Sri Lanka to seek $400 million financial facility from India’s RBI

By PTI

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is set to enter into an agreement with the Reserve Bank of India for a currency swap worth $400 million to boost the foreign  reserves and ensure the financial stability of the country which is badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, a top minister has said.

The Cabinet has approved a proposal made by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Finance Minister to enter into an agreement with the RBI for the financing facility to meet short-term international liquidity requirements, Co-Cabinet spokesman Information and Communication Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

Sri Lanka will enter into the agreement with the RBI for a Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement worth $400 million, Gunawardena said, adding the facility from the RBI is aimed at boosting the island nation’s foreign reserves.

Sri Lanka has placed critical economic measures to save the   resources hit badly by the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected 373 persons in the country and the death toll reached 7.

Addressing the Cabinet media briefing yesterday, Gunawardena said the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa paid special attention to the control of the Coronavirus pandemic, its success and the distribution of goods and relief to the people.

The minister pointed out that the whole world is now experiencing the economic collapse since World War II  resulted from the COVID-19 outbreak and a single country alone cannot find a solution to the crisis.

So the Cabinet of Ministers has approved this proposal in order to ensure the financial stability of the country, Gunawardena said.

is badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, a top minister  ..

Aditi Bhaduri

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