The economic crisis has brought weeks of protests across the country to demand the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Government spokesman Nalaka Godahewa said Beijing was reluctant to restructure Sri Lanka’s debt because it did not want to set that precedent. He told reporters that the finance ministry would later announce details of talks with China.
Earlier this month the government said it was suspend the repayment of foreign loans pending negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a loan restructuring plan.
Sri Lanka’s debt problems are partly because it has built infrastructure such as a port, airport and road networks using Chinese loans, but the projects are not bringing in money .
Rajapaksa had asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who visited Sri Lanka in January, to restructure these loans.
Central Bank figures show that existing Chinese loans to Sri Lanka total around $3.38 billion, not including loans to state-owned enterprises, which are counted separately and considered large.
Comments are closed.