Sri Lanka's doors open to the IMF - Min. Ramesh

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Joint-Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana says the island nation has kept it doors open to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide support on debt restructuring. The Minister made the above remarks when asked whether Sri Lanka would restructure its debt. He noted that debt restructuring is one option and a need has arisen to talk to the agencies and countries and the debt owners. Minister Pathirana further added that currently talks are held with the World Bank and Asia Development Bank (ADB) and are also liaising closely with neighbouring India, China and Japan to support Sri Lanka. '' So we are quite confident that we should be able to manage this crisis'', Dr. Pathirana concluded. Meanwhile, China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong has said the 10 billion Yuan SWAP facility equal to 1.5 billion US dollars is a "very special and unique" facility that has received the approval of Beijing's top leader. Although swap agreements like this can't be converted into dollars, the ambassador hasn't elaborated on why this qualifies as a "very special and unique" facility. The Economy Next website reported that when the agreement was signed in March last year, the central bank had said that the money received through the swap facility can be used for other purposes agreed by both parties.