SL in talks to extend $1 bln Indian credit line-report

8 March 2023 06:22 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 5 Bookmark

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Sri Lanka is negotiating with India to extend a $1 billon credit line by a few months, two sources told Reuters.

The credit line is to due to expire on March 17 with Sri Lanka having used only about two-thirds of it, mainly for medicines and food, said the sources and another person familiar with the matter.

The extension talks come as the economy improves and forex reserves rise for Sri Lanka, where huge protests took place last year amid widespread shortages of essentials after the COVID-19 pandemic hurt tourism and remittances while exposing low tax revenues.

A source at the Sri Lankan Finance Ministry said the government wanted to extend the credit line by 6-12 months because there was about $300 million of it left unused. No agreement had been reached, said the source.

Comments - 5

lal Wednesday, 08 March 2023 07:11 AM

Great. More gimmicks the bring the dollar down artificially like the 1.5 billion credit swap with china that we cant use unless we have 3 months worth of reserves for import. Our usable reserves are only 500 million out of 2 billion dollars

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Idiots running the country Wednesday, 08 March 2023 08:54 AM

The oil tanks abandoned by the British occupiers in Trincomale should have been used from day one as storage for bunker oil. And the ships operating in the sea near Trincomale would have been the customers. Just imagine how many millions we could have earned through this project. Instead we have the oil tanks to the Indians !!

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Jude Wednesday, 08 March 2023 09:12 AM

SL government don't know how to use a Indian credit line balance of $300 million!! Huh!! No proper planning!!

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VJ Wednesday, 08 March 2023 11:42 AM

We are drowned in debt, is it around 54 billion? We owe India alone more than $ 4 billion, not sure how and when to pay back. What could the $2.9 from the IMF which is strapped with a list of conditions do to uplift our economy? Using the IMF to force reforms is another strategy.

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Jay Wednesday, 08 March 2023 06:07 PM

India providing credit line should be contingent on srilankan government implementing 13 th amendment to north and east with police and land powers. How long does srilankan government need to make it operational what it acknowledges to be part of constitution.

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