• Exact dates for talks in London not yet fixed

By Kelum Bandara

Sri Lanka will have another round of talks with the representatives of the ad hoc group of bondholders soon, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said.   
The Minister told Daily Mirror that the exact dates for the conduct of talks in London had not yet been fixed.   
Last month, Sri Lanka rejected international bondholders’ proposal to restructure more than $12 billion in debt. It triggered concerns whether the critical International Monetary Fund support and delaying its efforts to resolve a two-year-long debt crisis will be at risk.   
Some of the proposal’s “baseline” assessments and a lack of a contingency option in the case of continued economic weakness were the two main reasons the deal was not agreed, the government said in a statement.   
Sri Lanka has already struck a deal with its main government creditors, but an agreement in principle with bondholders is also needed to secure IMF Board approval for the next $337 million instalment of its $2.9 billion programme next month.