US to participate in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring to help revive economy

The US has agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka's debt restructuring as prescribed by the IMF in its staff-level agreement for a USD 2.9 billion bailout package to help revive the country's ailing economy.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe that the US as a creditor country would participate in the country's debt restructuring. The US has pledged to continue to engage with other government agencies -- the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Wickremesinghe's office said the US treasury department had welcomed the government's decision to seek IMF assistance.

On September 1, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement to support Sri Lanka's economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about USD 2.9 billion.

Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 which was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. Commenting on the US' ...