Team News Riveting
India has emerged as the top lender to Sri Lanka in the first four months of the calendar year to rescue the island nation from the unprecedented political crisis and economic upheaval.
According to Sri Lankan finance ministry, India has extended USD 376.9 million worth credit compared to USD 67.9 million by China during the period of January 1 to April 30, 2022. Asian Development Bank (ADB) follows India as the second largest lender with USD 359.6 million being disbursed in the first four months.
Of the total foreign financing disbursements made during the period amounted to USD 968.8 million, USD 968.1 million was disbursed as loans while USD 0.7 million was disbursed by way of grants.
The majority of the disbursements were from the loan agreements signed with India, which is almost 39 per cent, followed by Asian Development Bank (37 per cent) and China (7 per cent), the report said.
After the economic meltdown, the worst in the island nation’s history that was kicked in during the early part of this year, India was Sri Lanka’s only source of assistance. However, they were not disappointed. The country needs about USD 5 billion in the next six months to cover basic necessities for its 22 million people.
Sri Lanka is also expecting a bail out from the International Monetary Fund to secure the urgent need of money for bridging finance. The economic crisis has finally culminated into a political crisis in the country after a popular uprising against the government forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and flee the country.
