Sri Lanka seeks Chinese debt restructuring amid crisis

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The president of debt-ridden Sri Lanka has asked China for the restructuring of its loans and access to preferential credit for imports of essential goods, as the island nation struggles in the throes of its worst economic crisis. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that it would be “a great relief to the country if attention could be paid on restructuring the debt repayments” as a solution to the crisis in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rajapaksa asked Wang for a concessionary credit facility for imports so that industries can run without disruption. Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves are down to around $1.6 billion, barely enough for a few weeks of imports. The government used loans from China for port projects that don’t make money.