Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry has said that India has supported Sri Lanka enormously throughout its financial crisis and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support.
The Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka said this during his bilateral meeting with Union Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar in Colombo. The Indian foreign minister, who visited Sri Lanka on January 19-20, said India stands with solidarity with Sri Lanka amid these difficult times.
India has been active in helping Sri Lanka amid the financial crisis. The country had recently told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it strongly supports Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan. Sri Lanka has sought a $2.9 billion loan from the global lender. It will need the backing of India and China to reach a final agreement with the IMF. The Sri Lankan government said that it is confident of finalising support from the IMF in the first quarter of 2023.
Between January and July last year, India provided Sri Lanka with $4 billion in rapid assistance via credit lines, a currency swap arrangement, and deferred import payments. It owes Chinese lenders $7.4 billion. Under the restructuring plan, Sri Lanka will pay India around $1 billion, said news reports.
