Sri Lanka and India have signed a US $1 billion Line of Credit (LoC) pact today, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S.R. Attygalle said.
The credit line from India comes amidst a serious economic crisis in Sri Lanka, which has resulted in a shortage of several essential items.
Attygalle confirmed that the agreement between India and Sri Lanka was signed this afternoon.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Attygalle left for India on 15th March to seek the US $1 billion credit line from India.
During the two-day visit, Minister Basil Rajapaksa met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Minister Rajapaksa briefed the two high-ranking Indian Government officials of Sri Lanka’s current economic situation.
The Minister had also followed up on the short and medium-term economic cooperation measures that were agreed upon during his visit to India in December last year.
Financial assistance has been sought from India in order for Sri Lanka to purchase several essential items, including fuel, food, and medicine.
The shortage of dollars has resulted in Sri Lanka being unable to import a number of essential items.
India is among several other countries Sri Lanka is in talks with, in a bid to resolve the present economic crisis. (NewsWire)
Tweet from Indian Foreign Minister
