Sri Lanka seeks to secure $ 5 billion in funding for import payments

Sri Lanka seeks to secure around $5 billion in funding this year to cover repayments for fuel imports and other items bought through credit lines, and another $1 billion to bolster its foreign reserves, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.

The island nation is grappling with its worst financial crisis in over seven decades with a severe foreign exchange shortage that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports including food, fuel, fertilisers and medicines.

“He elaborated that discussions with the IMF are proceeding and he was hopeful that negotiations would conclude by the end of the month,” Wickremesinghe’s office said in a statement, referring to a discussion between the prime minister and local chambers of commerce.

So far, Sri Lanka has received two credit lines worth $1.5 billion from India for fuel and essential imports. The neighbours are also in talks for another $500 million credit line to fund fuel imports. “He (Wickremesinghe) added that relations with Japan had broken down, and it would take a while to repair those relations and regain their confidence,” the statement from the prime minister’s office said.