COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Strategically placed Sri Lanka’s economic recovery was essential for stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan’s foreign minister said Saturday, urging Colombo to swiftly restructure its foreign debt.
Yoko Kamikawa said Colombo should secure agreements with bilateral lenders and international sovereign bondholders to unlock suspended foreign funding for the cash-strapped nation.
After talks with her Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry, Kamikawa called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed the island’s reforms to overcome its worst economic crisis, the two sides said.
“Deliberation also encompassed discussions on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to debt restructuring in Sri Lanka,” Wickremesinghe’s office said in a statement.
The Sri Lankan government which defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 had hoped to finalize deals with foreign creditors by April but there have been no final agreements yet. AFP