The Government of Sri Lanka is set to call for Expressions of Interests (EOI) from global legal firms for technical assistance in debt restructuring.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance said the EOIs are to be called for before commencing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Secretary further said that the complete process to call for EOIs from global legal firms will take 3-4 months.
Some legal firms have approached to make initial inquiries, the Finance Ministry Secretary added.
The move comes at a time when the country’s currency reserves have slumped 70% in the last two years to $2.31 billion and it has to repay about $4 billion in debt in the remainder of this year.
The drain of its dollars has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for critical imports, including food, fuel, and medicine.
Last week (18), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it will commence discussions with Sri Lanka on providing possible financial assistance.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the financial institution will begin discussions with Sri Lanka on a program to support the country.
Despite earlier stating that Sri Lanka will not approach the IMF for financial assistance, the Government has now decided to seek the financial institution’s help to resolve the economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also met with a group of top officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the President’s Office in Colombo last week (15). (NewsWire)
