Cash-strapped Sri Lanka gets parliamentary nod for domestic debt restructuring plan
The HinduA special session of Sri Lanka's Parliament on July 1 overwhelmingly approved the cash-strapped government's domestic debt restructuring plan, a vital element in the bankrupt nation’s bid for recovery from the worst economic crisis. Domestic debt restructuring is a key condition in the International Monetary Fund programme, through which a bailout package of $3 billion was approved for Sri Lanka in March. The Cabinet approved the debt restructuring plan on Wednesday which was to be referred to the public finance committee in parliament and finally for parliament’s approval on Saturday. Sri Lanka’s banking and finance sector feared for the worse as the government set about restructuring the local debt of USD 42 billion, which is more than its external debt component.