Govt. settles US$ 2bn foreign debt and interest

The government announced that it has been successful in settling a total of US$ 1909.7 million in foreign debt and interest payments within a time-frame of about 19 months.

From 21 July 2022, to February 2024, the government has disbursed US$ $1338.8 million in multilateral loans and interest, with no outstanding arrears in loan installments or interest payments, President’s Office Community Affairs Director General Rajith Keerthi Tennakone said.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, he shared that according to the Department of External Resources data, payments totaling US$ 760.1 million have been made to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and US$ 7.0 million to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. 

Additionally, payments of US$ 22.3 million have been made to the European Investment Bank, US$ 17.9 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and US$ 9.8 million to the EFF 23-26 programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Furthermore, US$ 1.7 million has been disbursed to the Nordic Development Fund, US$ 29.9 million to the OPEC Fund for International Development, and US$ 489.9 million to the World Bank (WB). 
The government’s total payment for loans and interest amount to US$ 1,338.8 million. 

“It is noteworthy that the ADB, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB) have extended further financial support to the government due to its commendable track record in debt repayment,” said Tennakone.

He pointed out that negotiations are underway with relevant states and institutions to finalise agreements on the repayment of bilateral loans and interest, which currently stand at US$ 571.0 million.

Additionally, preliminary agreements have been reached concerning debt and interest payments, involving members of the Paris Club, with outstanding interest to be settled by the end of February 2024 amounting to US$ 450.7 million.