Reuters, Colombo :
India will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Sri Lanka for it to buy fuel, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister told reporters on Wednesday, adding Bangladesh was also willing to postpone a $450 million in swap repayments.
“Assistance by the IMF will take about six months to come to us and it will come in tranches,” Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris said. “During the intervening period, we need to find funds to keep our people supplied with essentials.”
Last week, India committed $2 billion in financial assistance to Sri Lanka while supporting the island nation with food and fuel.
Sri Lanka, hit by its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 and on the brink of its first debt default, has been asking friendly nations including India and China for credit lines, food and energy. The Asian giants have already committed billions of dollars in financial support.
On March 29, the Bangladesh government said it was reconsidering Sri Lanka’s request for another loan of $250 million.
Earlier, Bangladesh, for the first time, went for a $250 million currency swap with the island nation.
It was the first-ever loan to any country from Bangladesh under the currency swap agreement inked by the BB and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on August 3 last year.
The island nation’s debt load has apparently becoming increasingly difficult to manage as it also struggles to pay for imports of fuel and other necessities, leading to power cuts and other shortages.
