Sri Lanka Asks China For Help

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On Monday, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s requested to China for its assistance in mitigating the debt amidst deepening forex crisis. The request by Sri Lankan PM was made during a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Colombo on Sunday, saying that this will help Colombo immensely at this time, and the assistance from Beijing will be really appreciated.

The request from Rajapaksa is mainly about restructuring the debt payments to resolve the current economic crisis arises due to Covid 19 pandemic. As per estimates, payment of USD 1.5 to 2 billion are due this year. As per the experts from international rating agencies, Sri Lanka does not have the ability to pay USD 1500 million. As per the initial agreement Sri Lanka has to pay USD 500 million next week.

President Rajapaksa has made a request for a concessional trade credit scheme for imports from China, as per him, this will enable industries to run smoothly. The visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi coincides with Sri Lanka facing the all-time worst foreign exchange crisis. Responding cautiously to the request from Sri Lanka, China assured of the continuous support provided to Sri Lanka for their economic and social development to the best of its capacity. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that “We believe that Sri Lanka will surely overcome the temporary difficulties as soon as possible and usher in renewed and greater development.”

It is also said that the island’s economic struggles are due to expensive joint Chinese investments that are not profitable. During a meeting on Sunday in Colombo, Wang met the with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister G L Peiris. China has invested billions of dollars investment in ports and infrastructure projects. This is also been criticized as a debt trap, although China is projecting this as a step towards deepening its ties with Sri Lanka.

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