Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s New President Says He’ll Restart Talks with the IMF to Find a Way Out of Economic Crisis

Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Wednesday that he will soon resume discussions with the International Monetary Fund and foreign creditors to plot a way out of the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, the Associated Press reported. “We expect to discuss debt restructuring with the relevant parties and complete the process quickly and obtain the funds.,” he said. The future of the economic recovery plan drafted by former liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe was called into question after Dissanayake, a Marxist, won the presidential election on Saturday.

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IMF to Work With Leftist Sri Lanka Leader on $3 Billion Loan

The International Monetary Fund said it’s looking forward to working with Sri Lanka’s newly elected leftist president, including on the latest review of the country’s $3 billion bailout package, Bloomberg News reported. “We will discuss the timing of the third review of the IMF-supported program with the new administration as soon as practicable,” the organization said in a statement after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn into office on Monday.
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Sri Lanka Creditors Win Option to Ditch New York Law in Bonds

A legal change in the bonds that will emerge from a debt restructuring in the South Asian island of Sri Lanka could set a precedent for sovereign debt contracts, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s officials and its international bondholders have agreed to keep New York as the governing law of new notes to be issued under a $12.6 billion rework, but are introducing a mechanism that allows creditors to request a change to English or Delaware law, according to a government statement on Thursday.
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Sri Lanka Reaches Restructuring Deal Days Before Election

Sri Lanka said that has reached an agreement in principle with bondholders to restructure about $12.6 billion in bonds, just two days before the country heads to elections that have rattled investors, Bloomberg News reported. The government and bondholders agreed on terms including a “27% haircut on the nominal amount of existing bonds,” according to a statement released Thursday at the conclusion of a third round of talks. A previous statement in July referred to a 28% haircut.
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Sri Lanka Strikes Restructuring Agreement with Bondholders

Sri Lanka struck a deal to restructure $12.6 billion of bonds with its creditors, bringing the South Asian nation closer to completing its debt overhaul two years after it defaulted, Bloomberg reported. Investors agreed to take a 28% nominal reduction on the bonds’ principal, according to a statement released Wednesday at the conclusion of the second round of talks. The deal included the issuance of notes whose payouts are linked to economic growth and a potential governance-linked bond.

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Sri Lanka Inks Final Pacts to Recast $10 Billion of Debt

Sri Lanka reached final restructuring agreements worth $10 billion, including with an Official Creditor Committee of bilateral lenders and China’s Exim Bank, providing much-needed relief to the beleaguered island nation, Bloomberg News reported. Sri Lankan officials in Paris on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to restructure $5.8 billion of debt, finalizing an initial agreement struck late last year with the group of official creditors led by France, India and Japan.
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Sri Lanka Set for Fresh Restructuring Talks on $12 Billion Bonds

Sri Lankan officials and global investors are expected to hold a second round of direct talks this week to agree on the restructuring of $12 billion in defaulted bonds, Bloomberg News reported. A group of bondholders, known as the steering committee, will continue to negotiate on the government’s new proposal in this round of the talks. The bondholders went “restricted,” meaning the conversations with the government are covered by temporary trading limitations because the topics under discussion may be market sensitive.
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Sri Lanka Closes In on Debt Restructuring With Bilateral Lenders

Sri Lanka and a group of creditors are in advanced talks over a deal aimed at restructuring the nation’s debt with bilateral lenders, Bloomberg News reported. The government and members of the official creditor committee, which includes India, Hungary and the Paris Club, are exchanging draft versions of the accord, or memorandum of understanding. The documents are needed to finalize an agreement reached in November between the South Asian nation and the official creditor committee and hash out the few remaining issues before a deal is settled.
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