Sri Lanka suspends foreign debt payments temporarily
The HinduSri Lankan officials on Tuesday said that the crisis-hit country will temporarily suspend foreign debt payments to avoid a hard default, with its limited foreign reserves required for imports of essential items such as fuel. Sri Lanka is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund on a loan programme next week, with the country suffering from prolonged power cuts alongside shortages of food and medicines. The island nation’s foreign reserves stood at a paltry $1.93 billion at the end of March, with foreign debt payments of around $4 billion due this year, including a $1 billion international sovereign bond maturing in July. J.P. Morgan analysts estimate Sri Lanka’s gross debt servicing would amount to $7 billion in 2022 and a current account deficit of around $3 billion.