Sri Lanka reaches deal on debt restructuring with bilateral creditors including China and France

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced a debt restructuring deal with countries including India, France, Japan and China in a televised address to the nation. The agreement marks a key step in the country’s economic recovery after defaulting on debt repayment in 2022. Sri Lanka is in an International Monetary Fund bailout program. The debt treatment deal is expected to reopen the doors to bilateral transactions and the resumption of foreign projects that stalled when the island nation defaulted. Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans.