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Sri Lanka secures $2.9 billion IMF deal after China's support, President Ranil Wickremesinghe informs

  
  
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  Washington: Facing a financial crisis, Sri Lanka needs a conditional International Monetary Fund (IMF) package of $2.9 billion. Clearing the biggest hurdle to achieving this, China has promised to help Sri Lanka in debt restructuring. President Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament on Tuesday that the government received a letter of assurance from China's Exim Bank on Monday night, which was immediately forwarded to the IMF. Wickremesinghe, who also holds the finance portfolio, assured that once the IMF agreement is reached, the deal will be tabled in parliament along with the government's future plan and draft road map. China's biggest creditor is Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is China's biggest creditor. 52 percent of its debt is from China. Due to this, the bailout package from the IMF to Sri Lanka was becoming an obstacle. In January, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, urged China not to be a spoiler, citing Sri Lanka's effort to reach IMF terms to receive a bailout. He complained that for the sake of the people of Sri Lanka, we certainly hope that China will not block the way forward for the IMF agreement.
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