SL assures $200M debt repayment to Bangladesh

October 17, 2022 at 10:17 AM

Sri Lanka has assured that it will meet its deadline for repayment of the debt of $200 million owed to Bangladesh, Governor of Bangladesh Bank Abdur Rouf Talukder revealed. 

According to BD News24, Bangladesh is hopeful that Sri Lanka will repay the debt by March 2023.

Abdur Rouf Talukder provided a positive outlook on the matter after a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Nandalal Weerasinghe on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the United States.

Speaking to reporters, Talukder said, “We [Bangladesh] gave $200 million to Sri Lanka under a currency swap agreement. But due to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, they could not return the money on time.”

In light of the crippling economic crisis that gripped the island nation, Bangladesh twice extended the deadline for repayment on Sri Lanka’s request, Talukder noted. “Sri Lanka is supposed to return it in three installments in February and March 2023.”

On the talks with Weerasinghe, Talukder said, “We had a very good meeting. The governor assured me that they will meet the deadline for repayment. They are now restructuring their debts and have spoken to India, Japan, and China about it.”

“Sri Lanka is also working on a deal with the IMF that has also been roughly confirmed. A final agreement on the program will probably be reached between November and December.”

Last year, Bangladesh agreed to give Sri Lanka loans of at least $200 million from its foreign exchange reserves under a currency swap deal.

The credit was to be repaid in installments over three months, the central bank said at the time. But as the economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka worsened, its external debt became unsustainable. With political stability gradually being restored, Sri Lanka is now moving towards repaying its debts. (NewsWire)