Sri Lankan president says he is seeking to defer loan payments until 2028 amid economic crisis

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president says that he is seeking a loan repayment moratorium until 2028 as the debt-ridden county tries to emerge from bankruptcy. President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the government is asking lenders to accept a plan to defer payments for five years and then pay down the debts from the beginning of 2028 through 2042. Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in local and foreign loans amid a severe foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of essentials such as food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and hours-long power cuts. Sri Lanka is under a four-year International Monetary Fund bailout program.