Govt. expects to finalise US $ 1bn credit line from India following Basil’s visit

• State Minister Semasinghe says SL talking with ME banks for US $ 2bn

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
Household Economy, Microfinance, Employment and Business Development State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, who was responding to a question raised by Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa yesterday, confirmed that discussions are currently ongoing with India to borrow further US $ 1 billion.

“Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa will finalise this facility soon,” he said. 
Rajapaksa is expected to land in New Delhi to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitaraman and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
India has promised Sri Lanka a US $ 500 million credit facility for oil and another US $ 1 billion facility for essential goods such as food and medicine. 

Meanwhile, Semasinghe said that in addition to the Indian credit lines, the government is seeking funds from certain Middle Eastern banks. 
“The government is seeking credit facilities to the tune of US $ 2 billion from a number of Middle Eastern banks,” he said.

Commenting on the government’s plans to bolster its foreign reserves position, Semasinghe expressed confidence in Sri Lanka recording US $ 15 billion in exports this year and said plans are afoot to send 300,000 Sri Lankans abroad with a view of increasing foreign remittance.

“We accept that there is a forex crisis, which has been caused by the wrong decisions made by every government that has ruled this country since 1977,” he said.

At the same time, the State Minister said the developments in Ukraine will have an adverse impact on Sri Lanka, especially when it comes to fuel supply.