President hopeful of commencing debt restructuring process by March

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is hopeful that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approval for USD 2.9 billion bailout package will be received by March this year for Sri Lanka to begin the debt restructuring process.

Addressing an event in Colombo organized by the Sri Lanka Technology Campus (SLTC) Research University this morning (Feb 15), the Head of State said Sri Lanka is now at the stage of economic stabilization.

In order to go ahead with the debt restructuring process, the country also needs to have political stability and social innovation, President Wickremesinghe noted.

Sri Lanka has reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF on a USD 2.9 billion extended fund facility (EFF) program, provided that the island manages to secure assurances on debt restructuring from its creditors including China, India and the Paris Club, a grouping of major creditor nations.