The Government has decided to secure a loan of USD 1 billion to settle interest payments for loans obtained from two state banks to purchase fuel, the Sunday Times reported.
The Secretary to the Energy Ministry K.D.R. Olga said the loan will be obtained from international private lending agencies.
Olga said the Ministry has already submitted nine unsolicited proposals from lending agencies to provide the CPC with a loan of USD 1 billion.
A committee has been appointed to evaluate these proposals and the evaluation process is to begin in the coming week.
The Secretary to the Energy Ministry said the funds will be used to pay part of the interest of the USD 2081 million owed by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to the People’s Bank and the Bank of Ceylon (BOC).
The Energy Ministry initially held talks with the State Bank of Japan and the State Bank of China to obtain this USD 1 billion loan at an interest rate lower than 3 per cent.
However, the talks were unsuccessful largely because of the economic crisis Sri Lanka was facing.
Therefore, the Government has now decided to consider the unsolicited proposals it has received. (NewsWire)
