China assures Sri Lanka of support in debt restructuring

Colombo: Chinese Premier Li Qiang has assured his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena of Beijing’s support to Colombo’s debt restructuring process as the island nation tries to resurrect its bankrupt economy.

Gunawardena, who is on an official tour of China, met Li on Tuesday in Beijing, a statement from the Sri Lankan prime minister’s office said here. The two premiers also witnessed the signing of nine new agreements between China and Sri Lanka, it said without providing any details.

China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender owning 52 per cent of the USD 40 billion external debt when Sri Lanka announced its sovereign default in 2022.

The Chinese assurance comes days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which concluded its second review of the USD 2.9 billion bailout with Sri Lanka, said reaching an agreement with the country's commercial creditors, the international bondholders and China Development Bank were the key to achieving debt sustainability.

During the high-level bilateral talks, the Chinese Premier praised Sri Lanka's economic progress after a period of economic downside and said his country would also extend assistance to develop Katunayake International Airport, Hambantota Port and Colombo Port City, news portal NewsFirst.lk said.