Tokyo (Reuters) – A group of Sri Lanka’s creditor nations reached an agreement in principle on debt restructuring for the South Asian nation, Japanese top financial diplomat Masato Kanda said on Wednesday.
Japan co-chairs this group, together with France and India, which is comprised of 14 nations. China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor and has not joined this group as a formal member.
Mired in its worst financial crisis in decades, Sri Lanka has been trying to reach restructuring deals with creditors since last year.
The deal will help Sri Lanka clear the first review of a bailout under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board program by early December, while securing a second IMF tranche of about $334 million.
The agreement with the group of creditor nations came about a month after the debt-ridden island nation reached a deal with the Export-Import Bank of China covering about $4.2 billion of outstanding debt.
