CHINA-SRI LANKA: SRI LANKA PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA ASKS CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER WANG YI FOR RESTRUCTURING OF LOANS AND CONCESSIONARY CREDIT FACILITY
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Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 9 asked China for the restructuring of its loans and
access to preferential credit for imports of essential goods. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis,
partly due to Beijing-financed projects that don’t generate revenue. Rajapaksa told visiting Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi that it would be “a great relief to the country if attention could be paid on restructuring
the debt repayments as a solution to the economic crisis that has arisen in the face of the COVID-19
pandemic”. A statement said Rajapaksa asked Wang for a concessionary credit facility for imports so that
industries can run without disruption. He also requested assistance to enable Chinese tourists to travel to Sri
Lanka within a secure bubble.
(Comment: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on the last leg of his trip. He arrived in Sri Lanka from
the Maldives on the last leg of a multinational trip that also took him to Eritrea, Kenya and the Comoros in
East Africa on January 8.)
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