brand logo

Two new teams for debt restructuring process

03 Aug 2022

  • Bandula says SL to recruit specialist teams for communication and debt rating identification
  • Procurement on the advice of Lazard, Clifford Chance
  • $ 12 b worth ISBs from 2015-19 for US, UK, French, German investors
  By Imesh Ranasinghe   Sri Lanka will recruit specialist teams for identifying credit ratings on sovereign debt restructuring and international communications for its debt restructuring process, based on the request made by the Government’s financial and legal advisors, said Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena. Speaking after the weekly Cabinet briefing held yesterday (1), Gunawardena said that these two teams will be recruited to identify International Sovereign Bond (ISB) holders who have invested in Sri Lanka’s sovereign bonds in the past. He said that between 2015 and 2019, Sri Lanka issued ISBs worth $ 12,050 million, and that many of these investors are from the US, the UK, France, and Germany. “So they need to be identified; it is a very complex process,” he said, adding that based on the relevant request made by the Government’s financial and Legal advisors, Lazard and Clifford Chance, Cabinet approved the recruitment of the two specialist teams. The total value of ISBs included in Sri Lanka’s external debt when it suspended debt servicing in April amounts to around $ 15 billion. Last week, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement that the debt advisors have made considerable progress in the analytical framework for debt operation, prior to formal engagement with Sri Lankan creditors. It also said that the Government is committed to engaging its creditors in good faith with a view to reaching a comprehensive debt restructuring programme that provides a fair and sustainable outcome for all stakeholders.  


More News..