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Lanka gets restructuring proposal from bond holders

Published

3 years ago

2023/10/15

ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lanka has received a proposal from private bondholders and is assessing it, a senior government source said as efforts are underway to also restructure official debt.

Bondholders have proposed ‘macro linked bonds’ where the coupon will adjust downwards if Sri Lanka’s growth is lower than forecasted, as well as regular bonds, Reuters, a news agency reported.The proposal includes hair-cuts and coupon reductions, the report said.

Unlike bilateral creditors who do not usually take hair-cut from middle income countries but give grace periods and extend maturities along with coupon cuts, private creditors usually write down the principle in return for faster payback.

Some of Sri Lanka’s bond holders consider the International Monetary Fund’s growth projections for the medium term at 3.1 percent to be pessimistic.Sri Lanka itself has forecasted 5.0 percent GDP growth for 2027 compared to 3.1 percent in an IMF debt sustainability assessment.A lower growth number squeezes the gross financing need, defined as a share of the GDP between 2027-2032, forcing bondholders to take steeper haircut than if the

Defining the GDP in dollar terms to link the bond was also considered, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.It was up to Sri Lanka authorities and bondholders “to find some kind of instrument that works for both parties,” IMF mission Chief Peter Breuer said in March responding to whether the IMF would endorse such securities.If issued such bonds would be a first to private bondholders in a sovereign restructure.

Previous so-called state contingent bonds involved value recovery instruments which traded separately and were not included in bond indices and were bought by hedge funds.

A bond with a coupon which is adjusted based on GDP however would be index eligible and could be held by ‘real money’ funds who own a bulk of Sri Lanka bonds.

Sri Lanka has issued 12.55 billion US dollars of sovereign bonds of which one bond is under litigation.China has agreed to restructure 4.2 billion US dollars of its debt but details have to be worked out, Sri Lanka’s finance ministry said this week.

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Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

There are 17 nursing schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media including the postgraduate primary nursing school.

There are 142 vacancies in the posts of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education) as on 31.03.2026 in those schools while 24 officers are to be promoted to the special grade on 31.12.2025 owing to the vacancies existing in the post of Special
Grade Nursing Officer (Education). Therefore, the number of vacancies is to be 166.

In addition, there are 24 vacancies in the post of Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education).

Although at present action has been taken to upgrade the nursing schools to nursing colleges and upgrade the nursing diploma course to nursing degree course, no action has been taken so far to carry out recruitment for the training relevant to the appointment for the post of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education).

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to recruit retired nursing instructors and nursing instructors who served in the nursing schools belonging to the three armed forces and are retired or have resigned legitimately from service to the post of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education) on contract basis.

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Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) held in New Delhi, India, in 2008, with the objective of enhancing regional cooperation.

The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.

According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.

The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.

News

The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

Approval has been granted at the cabinet meeting held on 11-12-2023 to sign an agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Government of Sri Lanka regarding mutual cooperation
in criminal matters.

However, according to the aforementioned approval, the relevant agreement could not be signed between both parties.

Through this agreement, opportunities will be provided
for mutual assistance to other countries in handing over judicial documents and collecting evidence for the use of criminal case matters.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution provided by the Minister of Justice and National Integration to sign an agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Government of Sri Lanka to cooperate in criminal matters.