{"id":80466,"date":"2022-12-01T00:36:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T04:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=80466"},"modified":"2022-12-01T21:38:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T01:38:24","slug":"batticaloa-mp-shanakiyan-rasamanickam-accuses-china-of-stalling-sri-lankas-imf-deal-and-forcing-down-unnecessary-projects-by-paying-bribes-to-sri-lankans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=80466","title":{"rendered":"Batticaloa MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam accuses China of stalling Sri Lanka\u2019s IMF deal and \u201cforcing down\u201d unnecessary projects by \u201cpaying bribes\u201d to Sri Lankans. \u201cIf China is truly Sri Lanka\u2019s friend, ask the Chinese to help with the [debt] restructuring and the IMF programme,\u201d TNA legislator says in Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Sri Lanka works hard to obtain financing assurances from its diverse creditors \u2014 a pre-requisite for the provisional $2.9 billion-IMF package \u2014 the loans obtained from China, the island nation\u2019s largest bilateral lender, have come under sharp focus.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Nandalal Weerasinghe told reporters that if Sri Lanka missed the December deadline [to report to the IMF], \u201cwe still have time until January\u201d. While authorities maintain that negotiations with creditors are \u201cprogressing well\u201d, they are yet to spell out where exactly the government\u2019s debt restructuring efforts stand, amid concerns over the apparent delay.<\/p>\n

Months after opting for a pre-emptive and disorderly default on its $ 51 billion foreign debt, Sri Lanka reached a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund in September. The government said the programme would put Sri Lanka\u2019s battered economy on a path of recovery and reform, making the bankrupt country eligible to borrow again from international sources.<\/p>\n

The IMF made its support contingent on Sri Lanka obtaining adequate financing assurances from all its creditors. While private lenders, mainly holders of International Sovereign Bonds, account for the largest chunk of Sri Lanka\u2019s external debt, China, India, and Japan are the top three bilateral creditors, and play a crucial part in the ongoing negotiations.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Opposition legislator from the Tamil National Alliance Shanakiyan Rasamanickam accused China of stalling Sri Lanka\u2019s IMF deal and \u201cforcing down\u201d unnecessary projects by \u201cpaying bribes\u201d to Sri Lankans. \u201cIf China is truly Sri Lanka\u2019s friend, ask the Chinese to help with the [debt] restructuring and the IMF programme,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Referring to Rajapaksa-era mega infrastructure projects in Hambantota and Colombo, funded by the Chinese, the Batticaloa MP said: \u201cThat is not China being Sri Lanka\u2019s friend, that is China being Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s friend.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Rajapaksa brothers and their government were dislodged by mass anti-government public agitations earlier this year amid crippling shortages.<\/p>\n

Responding to the TNA legislator on twitter, the Chinese Embassy said working teams of different Chinese banks had visited the island, and \u201cbilateral negotiations are on\u201d. The Embassy\u2019s tweet contended that his understanding was \u201cincorrect and incomplete.\u201d
\nChina will have to play \u201ca major role\u201d in Sri Lanka\u2019s debt restructuring process, with US$ 7.4 billion or 19.6 % Sri Lanka\u2019s outstanding public debt owed to China at the end of 2021, a recent paper by Sri Lankan Economists Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala has noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be the first time a major Asian Belt and Road Initiative borrower is going through the process… China\u2019s approach to Sri Lanka\u2019s debt restructuring and the extent of debt relief offered will set a precedent for China\u2019s role and behaviour in other countries as well,\u201d the authors observed in their research study published by the China Africa Research Initiative, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic sources in Colombo said they were awaiting more \u201cclarity\u201d on the exact process of debt restructuring, on whether Sri Lanka is adhering to the principle of \u201ccomparative and equitable treatment\u201d of all creditors, and the \u201csalutary effect\u201d the process might have on the Sri Lankan economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also appears that Sri Lanka is now more focussed on getting FDIs and resuming trade pacts with various countries rather than expediting debt restructure talks,\u201d a Colomb-based diplomat said.<\/p>\n

Despite creditors publicly pledging support to Sri Lanka\u2019s efforts to restructure its debt, the process is taking longer than Colombo anticipated. On where the apparent delay lies, Shehan Semasinghe, Minister of State for Finance, told The Hindu: \u201cIt is hard to point to one source of delay. We are in constant consultation with our creditors, our advisers, and the IMF to expedite the process. I must say all our creditors are being very supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy;The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan As Sri Lanka works hard to obtain financing assurances from its diverse creditors \u2014 a pre-requisite for the provisional $2.9 billion-IMF package \u2014 the loans obtained from China, the island nation\u2019s largest bilateral lender, have come under sharp focus. Earlier this week, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Nandalal Weerasinghe …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Batticaloa MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam accuses China of stalling Sri Lanka\u2019s IMF deal and \u201cforcing down\u201d unnecessary projects by \u201cpaying bribes\u201d to Sri Lankans. \u201cIf China is truly Sri Lanka\u2019s friend, ask the Chinese to help with the [debt] restructuring and the IMF programme,\u201d TNA legislator says in Parliament’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80467,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80466\/revisions\/80467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}