India to provide additional $500 million

Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has announced that India will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Sri Lanka it to buy fuel, and Bangladesh was willing to postpone a $450 million in swap repayments, according to Reuters.

Prof. Peiris has said, “Assistance from the IMF will take about six months to come to us and it will come in tranches. During the intervening period, we need to find funds to keep our people supplied with essentials.”

This development comes following India’s recent announcement to extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis following a previous USD 500 billion line of credit in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

Additionally, it is important to note that the World Bank is ready to provide emergency support to Sri Lanka and protect the vulnerable people amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the country, a media report on Wednesday quoted a senior official of the global lender as saying.

Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, is grappling with an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948.

World Bank Vice President Hartwig Schafer held talks with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry in Washington on Tuesday, the Colombo Gazette reported on Wednesday. Finance Minister Sabry is in the US for the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund IMF and the World Bank. Schafer said they discussed actions to address the economic crisis, support stabilisation and recovery, and protect the vulnerable people, the report added. – Mint