• Sri Lanka must accelerate talks with the IMF on a bailout

Japan will coordinate with other creditors to resolve Sri Lanka’s deepening financial crisis, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, urging all creditor nations to gather and discuss the South Asian nation’s debt at the same table.  

 “We are concerned about Sri Lanka’s severe socio-economic situation,” Suzuki told reporters.  
Sri Lanka must accelerate talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout, while all bilateral creditors, including China and India, must gather to discuss the issue, Suzuki said.  

“Japan wants to actively cooperate with other creditor countries and public organisations.”  
“I believe it is important for the Sri Lankan government to try to improve its economic and fiscal conditions in coordination with the IMF, Paris Club (of major creditor countries) and others, while maintaining transparency,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said.  

“We plan to consider our response, while watching such moves and the situation in Sri Lanka, and consulting with Sri Lanka, other donors and international organisations.”