Sri Lanka had expected the progress review to be completed by September, but it was held up pending assurances of debt restructuring by China, the island's largest single bilateral creditor. With Tuesday's decision, Sri Lanka has received about $670 million of the full loan. The finance ministry said the deal included a mix of extending the tenure and reducing interest on around $5.9 billion in bilateral loans. "Sri Lanka's agreements-in-principle with the Official Creditors Committee and Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments are consistent with the EFF targets. "They are an important milestone putting Sri Lanka’s debt on the path towards sustainability," the IMF said.

Source: Daily Nation December 12, 2023 20:08 UTC