by Rejaul Karim Byron in Daily Star,Dec 21, 2023Bangladesh’s debt service to revenue ratio is projected to cross the 100 percent mark for the first time owing to rising loans and lower tax and export receipts, highlighting the growing risk to the country’s capacity to repay. The debt service-to-revenue and grants ratio stood at 58.7 percent in the fiscal year of 2020-21 but it surged to 72 percent in FY22 and 71.8 percent in the…
Posts tagged as “debt”
By Rathindra Kuruwita in The Island, Oct 6, 2023Sri Lanka has made good progress in debt restructuring discussions with China, and negotiations with all parties will be concluded around the same time, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says. Addressing the media in Colombo on Thursday, Dr. Weerasinghe, in answer to a question posed by a journalist, denied reports that progress in debt restructuring discussions with China was lagging compared to that in…
by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, September 28th, 2023The government’s spending on debt servicing nearly doubled last fiscal year amid Nepal’s ballooning public debt along with high interest rates applicable on internal loans. The government spent Rs222.74 billion in debt servicing, including principal repayment and interest, in the fiscal year 2022-23. The figure is a rise of around 83 percent from the previous fiscal year, according to the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).…
report in The Island, July 8, 2023India plans to allow Sri Lanka up to 12 years to repay its debt to help ease the financial burden on the country, India’s Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) Ltd’s Chairman-cum-Managing Director M. Senthilnathan said. Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic and political crisis in over seven decades, owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors— $3 billion owed to China, $2.4 billion to the Paris Club and $1.6 billion to…
By Charumini de Silva in Daily FT, Apr 26, 2023The Government announced yesterday that the much-awaited debt restructuring framework to negotiate with creditors would be ready in May. “Debt restructuring process is the biggest challenge Sri Lanka is facing now. However, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is confident that a framework for debt restructuring negotiations will be ready within May,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardana said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday. He confirmed that…
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa in The Morning, Apr 16, 2023Sri Lanka is in consultation with all stakeholders for the introduction of a Debt-for-Nature Swap (DNS), an innovative financial solution introduced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Deputy Secretary to the Treasury R.M.P. Ratnayake. The Deputy Secretary to the Treasury told The Sunday Morning that the Government had been working on the debt-for-nature swap concept for a long time as Sri Lanka needed to finalise…
By Asiri Fernando in The Morning, Apr 16, 2023A controversial allegation made by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna District MP Sivagnanam Shritharan that hundreds of acres of land from the north were being handed over to China as part of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process was yesterday (15) rubbished by Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake. Shritharan on Thursday (13) made the controversial statement at a press conference held in Kilinochchi, claiming that the TNA…
report in Global Times, Apr 15, 2023Chinese experts and officials hit back at remarks from Western-backed lenders made during a meeting that China is a major creditor to emerging markets and should do more in helping debt relief. China is willing to implement the common framework for debt disposal with other countries, China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings, according to a statement released…
report in Daily Mirror online, Mar 2, 2023Premier Li Keqiang told the head of the International Monetary Fund that China is open to participating in multilateral efforts to help heavily indebted nations “in a constructive manner,” China Central Television reported. “China is willing to take part in resolving relevant countries’ debt issues,” Li said in a phone call Wednesday with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, according to CCTV. “China maintains that all sides should take…
report in The Island, Feb 11, 2023The International Monetary Fund said its approval of the $2.9 billion loan bailout of the crisis-riddled Sri Lanka will depend on the country securing assurances on debt relief from its bilateral creditors, Bloomberg reported yesterday Bloomberg quoted an IMF spokesperson who said “Sri Lanka continues to engage with official bilateral creditors to obtain financing assurances and also continues to advance domestic reforms. As soon as adequate assurances are obtained…