Clearing the hardest hurdle for securing a loan of USD 2.9-billion bailout package from the IMF, President Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Sri Lanka's Parliament on Monday evening that China had given assurance that it would back the island country's debt restructuring.
Making a special address in Parliament, the President said that the EXIM Bank of China last night handed over a new letter of assurance pertaining to Sri Lanka's debt restructuring, according to Newswire. He further stated that a letter of intent signed by himself and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was thereafter immediately handed over to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"We have completed our responsibilities. Now, I hope the IMF will do their part by the 3rd or 4th week of this month," President Wickremesinghe said.
The President added that this will enable the first round of funds from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to be issued to Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe in his address to parliament said that with the provision of fertiliser, the country achieved a successful harvest during Yala and Maha seasons -- Maha and Yala are synonymous with two monsoons -- and the export of agricultural products has gained a fair degree of normalcy and economic problems since June 2022 have been resolved to some extent.
According to Newswire, he told Parliament that the government took many extremely difficult economic measures to stabilise the economy and efforts are now being made to ensure economic growth.
The President told Parliament that the government implemented various measures such as providing essential commodities, uninterrupted electricity supply, fertiliser to farmers, and additional funds for Samurdhi beneficiaries and restored tax policies implemented in 2019 to improve revenue as the emergency tax cuts implemented earlier led to a decrease in government revenue.
( With inputs from ANI )
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