Country: Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka Seeks Chinese Aid to Rebuild After Deadly Cyclone
Sri Lanka asked China to help rebuild key infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Ditwah, which killed at least 641 people and caused extensive damage, the island's foreign minister said on Monday. Vijitha Herath said he made the request during talks with his ...
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Constructive Responses to Net Negative Transfers: What Next for China’s Financial Relationship With Low-Income Countries
By Rebecca Ray In the last few years, China’s net debt transfers (new disbursements minus repayments) to low-income countries have turned negative. This trend means that poor countries are now repaying China more each year for past years’ lending than they ...
Chinese Commerce Minister Visits South Asia
Wang Wentao, China’s Minister of Commerce led a large business delegation to Sri Lanka. Speaking at the Sri Lanka-China Trade and Investment Forum in Colombo during the weekend, Wang promoted a three-pronged strategy to strengthen ties: increased trade, expanded industrial investment and strengthening global multilateralism in ...
Sri Lanka Vows Closer Ties With China and India’s Left
Sri Lanka's government pledged closer ties on Thursday with Communist parties in China and India, two regional powers competing for influence in the small but strategically important nation. The leftist government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held its first May Day ...
India’s Modi Clinches Defense, Energy Deals in Sri Lanka
By Amal Jaysinghe India secured defense and energy deals with neighboring Sri Lanka on Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, seen as a move to counter rival China's growing influence in the region. Sri ...
China, Sri Lanka to Fast-Track Hambantota Refinery
China’s state-owned oil company Sinopec signed an agreement with the Sri Lankan government to accelerate the building of a $3.7 billion oil refinery in the port city of Hambantota. The agreement includes fast-tracking unresolved issues around water access, land allocation, and taxes. The deal will be the largest single ...
Sri Lanka Signs Landmark $3.7 Billion Deal With Chinese State Oil Giant
Sri Lanka has secured its biggest-ever foreign investment after signing a deal with Chinese state-run oil giant Sinopec, officials said on Thursday. Sinopec has agreed to invest $3.7 billion to construct a "state-of-the-art oil refinery" with a capacity of 200,000 barrels ...
XI Hails ‘Historical Opportunity’ for China-Sri Lanka Ties in Talks With President
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said relations between China and Sri Lanka faced a "historical opportunity" to foster ties, in talks with the island nation's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Wednesday. "China-Sri Lanka relations face a historical opportunity to build on the ...
Sri Lankan President to Meet With Xi During First Visit to China
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will kick off a four-day visit to China on Tuesday, his first there since coming to power last November. Dissanayake is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and will likely hold talks with officials from the China Exim Bank, ...
Sri Lanka President To Visit China Ahead of Budget
Sri Lanka's president will travel to the island's largest bilateral lender, China, next week ahead of his first national budget, the information minister said Tuesday. The visit comes a month ahead of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's first budget, which is expected ...
Sri Lanka President to Visit Key Lender China
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will travel to the island's largest bilateral lender, China, for talks in January, he said on Saturday, days after completing a long-delayed foreign debt restructuring. China accounted for more than half of Sri Lanka's bilateral ...
Sri Lanka President in India in First Overseas Trip
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was in India Monday for his first overseas visit as head of state, vowing to bolster ties between the neighbors. Leaders of the island nation typically make their first visit to regional powerhouse India, which ...
Gautam Adani Pulls Out of Sri Lanka Port Deal Meant to Counter China
The controversial Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has withdrawn from a loan deal with a U.S. government agency for a port terminal in Sri Lanka, aimed at expanding operations at the country’s Colombo port while countering Chinese influence in the region. Adani was ...
Sri Lanka Arrests Over 230 Chinese in Cybercrime Raids
Sri Lankan police have arrested over 230 Chinese men accused of targeting international banks in online scams, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, with help from security officials sent by Beijing. Vijitha Herath said police raids over the past week had ...
Sri Lanka Busts Chinese Cybercrime Racket
Sri Lanka's police have arrested 198 Chinese men on suspicion of operating a cybercrime ring from the South Asian nation, a police spokesman said Sunday. Deputy Inspector-General Nihal Thalduwa said the men were taken into custody at four locations during raids ...
Sri Lanka Approves Controversial Foreign Debt Deal
Sri Lanka's new government has approved a controversial restructure of $14.7 billion in foreign commercial credit tentatively agreed by its predecessor, the finance ministry said Saturday. Former leader Ranil Wickremesinghe announced a deal with international sovereign bondholders and the China Development ...
With Global Attention Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific Remains a Theater for China-India Rivalry
By Saniya Kulkarni In what has turned out to be the closest election in the history of Sri Lankan politics, left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake has unseated Ranil Wickremesinghe to become the island country’s eighth president, also
China Pledges More BRI Cooperation as Sri Lanka Swears in New Leader
Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president on Monday, after winning a rare second-round election over the weekend. The Marxist-leaning leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front) party won on a ticket of economic reconstruction ...
Xi Says Wants to Deepen BRI Cooperation With Sri Lanka Under New Leader
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said he hoped to broaden cooperation with Sri Lanka under his Belt and Road Infrastructure Initiative (BRI) as he congratulated the island nation's new leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka. Dissanayaka, a self-avowed Marxist, took his oath ...
Cash-Strapped Sri Lanka Eyes China Development
By Amal Yayasinghe Sri Lanka's economic collapse was partly blamed on struggling high-debt Chinese mega-projects, but candidates in Saturday's presidential election are banking on at least one of them to buck the trend. The strategically ...
Sri Lanka to Save $5 Billion From Bilateral Debt Deal
Sri Lanka will save $5 billion following the restructuring of its bilateral debt, much of which is owed to China, through slashed interest rates and longer repayment schedules, the president said Tuesday. The island nation defaulted on its foreign borrowings in ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Philippines Eyes China Talks After Violent Sea Clash
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính in Beijing on Wednesday for talks that focused on infrastructure development. The Prime Minister is looking for more Chinese support to bolster Vietnam's rail and energy sectors. (VN EXPRESS)
Sri Lanka’s Creditors Demand Deal Details, Including With China
Sri Lanka's bilateral lenders, who agreed to restructure close to $6 billion in loans, have demanded "comparability of treatment" with other creditors, including China. A statement seen by AFP on Thursday read that the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), led by Japan, ...
Sri Lanka Seals Debt Deal With China, Others After Crash
By Amal Jayasinghe Sri Lanka said on Wednesday it had clinched a restructuring deal with key bilateral lender China and other nations, covering up to $10 billion in debt. This is a critical step towards recovery after the 2022 financial crash.
Cash-Strapped Sri Lanka Set to Sign Key Debt Deals With China and Other Lenders
Sri Lanka has finalized long-delayed debt deals with its bilateral lenders, including China, to meet a key condition of an IMF bailout, the government said Tuesday. A treasury delegation is on its way to France to sign agreements with creditors on ...
IMF Releases Sri Lanka Loan Despite Restructure Delays
The International Monetary Fund released $336 million as part of a bailout loan installment for Sri Lanka despite delays in the crucial restructuring of its foreign debt, including to China, the Washington-based lender said Wednesday. The South Asian nation was starting ...
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
Developing countries spent a staggering $294 billion to service their debts in 2022, a figure that's expected to balloon by a third this year, according to the findings of a new report published by the UK NGO ONE Campaign. While China ...
Sri Lanka Leases White Elephant Airport Built With Chinese Loans
Sri Lanka said Friday it had leased a white elephant international airport built with Chinese loans to a foreign joint venture as the island nation's bankrupt government seeks to offload loss-making assets. The small airport near a wildlife sanctuary on the ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Indonesia’s President-Elect Prabowo Subianto Met With Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing
Indonesia's President-elect Prabowo Subianto met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday in Beijing and promised his new government will maintain close ties with Beijing. Prabowo is now in Tokyo for two days where he will deliver a similar message to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (ASSOCIATED ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Premier Li Qiang Said Beijing Will Assist Sri Lanka in Its Debt Restructuring Process
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang provided fresh assurances on Tuesday to his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena that Beijing will assist Colombo in its debt restructuring process. Gunawardena is visiting Beijing this week and raised the issue of Sri Lanka's $7.1 billion outstanding loans owed to Chinese creditors.
Leaders Arrive in Beijing for What’s Going to be a Frenetic Week of Global South Diplomacy
Visiting heads of state, foreign ministers, and party leaders from Asia, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean arrived in Beijing this weekend for what's going to be a very busy week ahead for Chinese diplomacy specifically focused on small and mid-sized countries in the Global South.
Sri Lanka President Hints at Emerging Chinese Logistics Network Linking Hambantota With Yangon and Chongqing
Discussions are reportedly underway among Sri Lanka, China, and Myanmar to link key ports and industrial hubs in those countries into a new logistics network, according to recent comments by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The president said at a cabinet ...
China’s Maritime Research Has Military Role: Report
The government of Sri Lanka announced in early January that it is imposing a one-year ban on Chinese research vessels docking at its ports. Last year, Colombo got into a spat with India about allowing a Chinese ship to dock amid Indian fears about military surveillance.
What the Past Tells Us About the Future of the BRI
There's a widely-held perception in many parts of the U.S., Europe, and India that debt and geopolitics have led to the demise of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But a landmark new study from AidData proves otherwise, revealing not only ...
U.S. Commits Half a Billion Dollars to Sri Lankan Port To Take On China
The United States will lend $553 million for a new deep-water shipping container facility in Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo. The project will be the largest undertaken by the U.S. foreign development agency, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as it challenges China’s ...
IMF Caught Unawares by China’s Sri Lankan Debt Deal
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s brief announcement on Tuesday that China Exim Bank reached a debt deal with Sri Lanka surprised IMF officials - another indication of how fractured the bankrupt country’s debt restructuring process has become. Peter Breuer, the IMF’s Mission ...
Glimmers of Debt Deal for Sri Lanka Raises China Pressure
Sri Lanka’s major creditors, including India, Japan, and France, are nearing a debt deal by mid-October, according to the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun. However, there are serious questions as to whether China (one of Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditors) will be part of the deal. ...
A Debt Deal for Sri Lanka Without China?
Some members of Sri Lanka’s creditor committee are reportedly promoting an agreement to restructure the bankrupt country’s debt without China. According to a report by Bloomberg, the United States, Japan and India are pushing for a deal with Sri Lanka ...
South Asian Leaders Gather in Kunming for China-South Asia Expo
Leaders from South Asian countries gathered in the southwest Chinese city of Kunming for the seventh China-South Asia Expo. It was an occasion for Chinese leaders to emphasize both trade and political ties. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the guests that ...
Guessing China’s Military Basing Ambitions
By Lukas Fiala Occasionally, a new report reignites the debate over where China might place its next military base. And just in time for the PLA’s 96th anniversary on Tuesday this week a recent study from AidData sheds new light on the topic. ...
Is China Setting the Agenda for Global South Debt Restructuring?
In June, Zambia reached what's been described as a landmark debt restructuring deal that for the first time brought together the country's bilateral creditors including China, traditional Paris Club lenders and bondholders. While the deal ...
Sri Lanka’s Creditors Push for Greater Chinese Participation in Debt Talks
Three of Sri Lanka’s largest lenders are calling for its debt restructuring process to be sped up and for China to support the process. Officials from India, Japan, and France, the three heads of Sri Lanka’s creditor committee, are also raising new forms of cooperation in a bid ...
Communist Party of China Plans Arab Outreach
The Communist Party of China wants to sharply increase its coordination with Arab countries. This was a key takeaway from the mid-July's fourth China-Arab States Political Parties Dialogue, which brought CPC officials together with delegates from 67 political parties from across the Arab world. ...
Sri Lanka Gets Relief from World Bank as FM Walks a Careful China Line
The World Bank announced $700 million in budgetary and welfare support to Sri Lanka on Thursday. The news comes as Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry met with China’s Finance Minister Liu Kun and Exim Bank chair Wu Fulin to discuss China’s central role in his country’s debt restructuring. ...
Backgrounder: China’s Emerging Playbook in South Asia
China’s outsized role in two key South Asian debt crises (Sri Lanka and Pakistan) and its fractious cross-border relationship with India have overshadowed a larger trend: Beijing is increasingly becoming an adept navigator of South Asian complexities in order to grow its own influence in the region.
Sri Lankan President Upbeat About Debt Deal Amid Geopolitical Pressure
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that Sri Lanka plans to announce a plan to deal with its domestic debt this week, in line with IMF benchmarks. In an interview with France24, he dismissed fears that China is delaying the process, after Chinese creditors didn’t join official debt talks in April. ...
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Chinese Premier Both Scheduled to Attend Global Financial Conference in Paris
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are both scheduled to attend the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris next week, where debt relief for the world's poorest countries is expected to be high on the agenda.
The World Bank and the IMF Are Not Aligned on China’s Response to Global South Debt Crisis
Just a few days after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said real progress is being made in unblocking the impasse between China and developing countries over debt relief, her counterpart at the World Bank, David Malpass, conveyed a very different message on Bloomberg Television.
China Observes But Doesn’t Participate in Sri Lanka’s Inaugural Debt Meeting
Sri Lanka's major bilateral creditors convened their first meeting on Tuesday, but the country's largest bilateral lender, China, was in the room but only as an observer. “If China decides to participate, we would welcome it,” Masato Kanda, Japan’s vice minister ...
Update on China’s Role in the Burgeoning Global South Debt Crisis
There was a lot of excitement earlier this month at the IMF and World Bank's annual gathering in Washington, D.C. about rumors that the impasse between China and multilateral development banks (MDBs) had been resolved. That stalemate between the Chinese and ...
China’s Central Bank Chief Signals Beijing Will Cooperate With Other International Creditors on Debt Relief
The head of China's central bank, Yi Gang, provided the clearest indication to date Beijing is willing to retreat from its demand that multilateral development banks (MDBs) also take write-downs on their loans to the world's poorest countries. Yi told participants at ...
World Bank President Nominee in China for Critical Meetings With Finance Leaders
Ajay Banga arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for the latest stop in his worldwide job interview to become the next president of the World Bank. Banga is scheduled to meet with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun, various leaders from the People's ...
IMF Head Kristalina Georgieva Will Go to Beijing in Bid to Break Debt Relief Impasse With China
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kirstalina Georgieva will travel to China at the end of this week for a visit that will be closely watched by finance ministries throughout the Global South. The primary purpose of Georgieva's trip is to deliver keynote ...
China vs. the Multilateral Development Banks
There was a major breakthrough this week in China's months-long standoff with the World Bank, IMF and other multilateral creditors when Beijing agreed to fully back Sri Lanka's debt restructuring. The move now clears the way for Colombo to secure $2.9 ...
Rays of Hope Following China Settlement in Sri Lanka
China’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring in line with other bilateral creditors is a major step towards securing a rescue package from the International Monetary Fund. However, it’s still unclear how negotiations will proceed, as the country suffers from food and ...
China Unexpectedly Backs Sri Lanka Debt Plan, Clearing the Way for Desperately-needed IMF Rescue Funds
After months of delays and obfuscation, the China Exim Bank suddenly and unexpectedly reversed course this week and agreed to fully support Colombo's debt restructuring plan. President Ranil Wickremesinghe broke the news on Tuesday when he told parliament that China Exim would ...
Senior U.S. Diplomat Criticizes China’s Role in Sri Lankan Debt Restructuring
Yet another U.S. government official has added to the war of words between Washington and Beijing on debt restructuring. Ramin Toloui, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the US Department of State, was asked about China’s ...
Stand-off Between China and Western Creditors Leading to Unprecedented Delays In Debt Relief for Poor Countries
Just ten years ago, it usually took less than two months for a debt-distressed country to get a sign-off from the International Monetary Fund for emergency financial relief, but that is no longer the case, according to new data compiled by Reuters.
China’s Premier Promises IMF Chief “Constructive” Cooperation on Debt
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the head of the International Monetary Fund that China is open to participating “in a constructive manner” with debt restructuring efforts. During a call with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Li said: “China is willing to take ...
IMF Head Flatly Rejects China’s Call for Multilateral Development Banks to Take Losses on Loans: “Not Possible”
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva flatly rejected China's demand for multilateral development banks (MDBs) to accept losses or "haircuts" for loans to the world's poorest countries. "Not possible" she bluntly declared in an interview with Bloomberg following this weekend's ...
Sri Lanka President to Meet With Chinese Finance Minister in Bid to Unblock Debt Relief
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun on Friday for what's been described as "a last-ditch effort" to get Beijing to align with Colombo's other creditors for desperately-needed debt relief. The two will ...
China Unphased by Report IMF May Circumvent Beijing on Sri Lanka Debt Relief
Sri Lankan debt restructuring seems to be hitting a stalemate, judging by Monday’s Foreign Ministry press briefing. Asked about a recent Bloomberg report that the IMF is considering circumventing Chinese approval in providing a relief deal to the bankrupt country, spokesperson Wang Wenbing basically restated China’s current position.
IMF Considers Circumventing China for Sri Lanka’s Emergency Debt Relief
The International Monetary Fund may have found a way to unblock the impasse with China that's blocked Sri Lanka's $2.9 billion emergency financial package. The IMF, according to Bloomberg, is actively considering invoking a rarely used policy that allows the fund to issue ...
China’s Debt Fight Has High Stakes
We’ve covered Chinese lending to the Global South through the boom days of the BRI and the current debt busts cratering Zambia, Sri Lanka and other economies. One of the things we’ve learned is that China plays a weird dual role in the global development finance landscape. ...
India Thinks It Can Persuade China to Take Big Losses on Its Loans to Poor Countries
The Indian government, in its role as rotating head of the Group of 20, is drafting what will no doubt be a controversial proposal that calls on all major international creditors, namely China, to take large losses on its loans to poor countries.
China Sticking to Its Position That Multilateral Banks and Bondholders Must Also Take Losses on Sri Lankan Debt
The Chinese government re-stated on Wednesday that it will not move forward with the Sri Lankan debt restructuring process unless both commercial creditors and multilateral development banks also agree to accept losses on their loans. Ministry officials told Reuters that Spokesperson ...
IMF Tells Sri Lanka to Gets Its Creditors in Line, Prompting Showdown With China
The Sri Lankan government suffered another setback in its ongoing effort to secure a $2.9 billion emergency financing package from the International Monetary Fund after the lender informed Colombo it would have to secure more assurances from its creditors, namely China, to provide debt relief. ...
Paris Club Calls Out China Over Sri Lankan Debt Relief
The Paris Club of wealthy creditor states turned up the pressure on China to resolve the current impasse that's blocking debt relief for Sri Lanka and other developing countries. “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official ...
China-IMF Spat Over Debt Relief Intensifies Following Fund Chief’s Call for Beijing to Change Its Ways
The war of words between China and Western-led multilateral institutions about developing country debt is escalating. China’s party-owned tabloid Global Times has reacted to a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, in which she said: "China has to change its policies ...
China is Pushing For a Major Change in Global South Debt Restructuring
The Chinese government provided its first official confirmation that it will provide Sri Lanka with a two-year debt repayment moratorium on $2.83 billion of loans owed to The China Exim Bank. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning's statement on Friday was intended, in part, ...
China-IMF Impasse in Sri Lanka “Has to be Broken, One Way or Another,” Says Debt Expert
Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a noted sovereign debt expert, wrote a brief analysis of why the China Exim Bank's offer of a two-year debt moratorium is "insufficient". (The following transcript has been lightly ...
Top State Department Official Says China’s Debt Relief Offer to Sri Lanka is “Not Enough”
Another senior U.S. diplomat has accused China of not doing enough to resolve Sri Lanka’s debt renegotiation, a sign that the island’s financial crisis is increasingly being framed geopolitically. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland said: "What China has offered ...
What’s Driving the Steady Decline in Chinese Overseas Development Lending?
There was a time when Chinese lending to developing countries rivaled the World Bank. Those days are now long gone as Chinese overseas development lending has been on a steady downward trajectory.
China’s Debt Relief Offer For Sri Lanka May Not Be Enough to Satisfy IMF, Say Insiders
Sri Lanka's desperately-needed financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund may be in jeopardy due to an insufficient debt restructuring offer from China, Colombo's largest bilateral creditor. The IMF is requiring that Sri Lanka first receive assurances from its largest bilateral creditors, ...
Sri Lanka Hints at Lukewarm Response to China Exim Bank’s Debt Moratorium Offer
The China Exim Bank has reportedly agreed to grant Sri Lanka a two-year debt repayment moratorium, according to a letter sent by the Chinese policy bank to the Finance Ministry in Colombo. The letter, which has not been made public
India Supports Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring Process
Sri Lanka has reportedly secured India’s support for its debt restructuring process. According to Reuters, an Indian Finance Ministry official sent a message to the International Monetary Fund that it “strongly supports” the debt-ridden country’s economic recovery plan. Indian External Affairs
Dalai Lama Invite Complicates China-Sri Lanka Cooperation
Sri Lanka’s desperate attempts to get China’s support for its debt restructuring could be blown up from the inside. This follows an invitation from senior Buddhist clerics to the Dalai Lama to visit the bankrupt island state. The Chinese embassy was predictably ...
India’s External Affairs Minister Heads to Sri Lanka After China Sends Positive Signals on Debt Deal
The Sri Lankan government is now on the verge of closing a deal to secure a $2.9 billion emergency financial package from the International Monetary Fund following new assurances from its two largest bilateral creditors, India and China. Colombo got the desperately ...
The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Goes on a Furious Twitter Rant to Rebut U.S. Ambassador’s “Spoiler” Accusations
The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka did not take well to U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung's accusation that China is a potential "spoiler" in the South Asian country's debt restructuring process. The embassy was furious over remarks Chung made in an interview ...
India and China Both Send High-Level Delegations to Sri Lanka This Week to Discuss Debt Crisis
Two of Sri Lanka's largest bilateral creditors, China and India, are finally taking steps to engage Colombo after months of inaction in resolving the South Asian country's worsening debt crisis. The Chinese led the charge. Chen Zhou, vice minister of the ...
Sri Lanka Caught in the Middle of China and India’s Geopolitical Rivalry
BBC Economics Editor Ben Chu returned to Colombo recently to report on Sri Lanka's fraught position in the middle of India and China's increasingly bitter feud and what the implications are for the island's badly-needed debt restructuring process.
Ghana Shows the Global South’s Debt Problem is Bigger than China
The news that Ghana has defaulted on its external debt is sending shivers through the continent. It immediately raises questions about how the Ghanaian people will overcome the crisis and which country could be next. In response to the default, today’s newsletter examines the debt issue from ...
New Report Debunks Chinese Debt Trap Narrative in Sri Lanka
The Chinese debt trap narrative was started based on the purported surrender of the Port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka. When Colombo fell behind in its payments to the China Exim Bank for the loan, the story goes, Beijing seized the ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: More Details About Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery Program Is Emerging
More details about Sri Lanka’s economic recovery program is emerging as the country struggles to restructure its debt, about a fifth of which is owed to China. The country’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry told Reuters his government is expecting as much as $5 billion in loans next year ...
New Research Reveals Sri Lanka’s Debts to China Are Much Higher Than Previously Reported
New data reveals Sri Lankan borrowers owe China's main policy banks significantly more money than had been previously reported, an important revelation as the embattled South Asian country lobbies its creditors for debt relief. Chinese loans to Sri Lanka totaled $7.4 ...
Long Awaited Debt Restructuring Talks Between China and Sri Lanka Get Underway
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that after months of inaction, debt restructuring talks with China have finally begun. The President said in a statement on Sunday that he personally spoke with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun on the issue and that a ...
Debt in Africa: Everyone’s Watching What China Does in Zambia
The United Nations Development Program issued a new report this week that once again sounded the alarm on the urgent need for debt relief in the world's poorest countries. The UNDP said 54 countries are at risk, with African countries accounting ...
After Months of Delay, China Finally Begins Debt Restructuring Talks With Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the country's parliament late last week that China had finally agreed to begin long-desired debt restructuring talks. During a recent visit to Tokyo, President Wickremesinghe also called on Japan, Sri Lanka's other main creditor in addition to China and ...
As China Nitpicks Terms, Asia’s Debt Bomb is Ticking…
As technocrats in Sri Lanka and Laos grapple with renegotiating loans to a variety of creditors, including China, the region's creeping debt distress is slowly tipping into a full-blown humanitarian disaster. The situation is the most critical in Sri Lanka, where ...
Understanding the Significance of China’s Interest-Free Loans Cancelation
By Oyintarelado Moses and Jyhjong Hwang On August 19, 2022, China announced it would waive 23 interest-free loans (IFLs) with maturity by the end of 2021 for 17 unspecified African countries worth an unspecified total amount. This announcement comes as ...
Sri Lanka Calls On Same Financial Advisory Firm That Worked With Zambia on Debt Restructuring
The Sri Lankan government hired the boutique Paris-based financial advisory firm Lazard to negotiate on its behalf with bilateral creditors in China, Japan, and India, among others. If that firm sounds familiar, it's because it's the same company that was brought in to help shepherd the Zambian government through its successful ...
Zambia is Going to Look Easy Compared to the Financial Mess in Sri Lanka
A broad cross-section of the international financial community is warning that Sri Lanka's major creditors must move quickly to restructure the country's debts or else full-scale economic collapse is inevitable. The latest warning signal came from the Hong Kong office of ...
IMF Visit Adds Pressure on China to Support Sri Lanka Debt Restructuring
A team from the International Monetary Fund is in Sri Lanka for the second time in three months to discuss debt restructuring amid calls for China to align itself with the country’s other creditors. Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe said: "We have ...
How Will the Debt Crisis Affect China’s Image as a Development Partner?
By Lukas Fiala As the debt crisis across the Global South accelerates, many commentators are weighing in on the drivers and implications of repayment difficulties and defaults. Unsurprisingly, as a major bilateral creditor to many governments across the developing world, China is ...
Sri Lanka Relents to Indian Pressure and Requests China to Defer Military Ship’s Arrival
Sri Lanka said on Monday it had asked China to defer the planned visit of a Chinese ship to the island country after initially approving its arrival this week, yielding to diplomatic pressure from neighbor India to keep the military vessel out.
How a Major Shift in Chinese Lending is Backfiring Across the Global South
Chinese lending is increasingly shifting from boosting development to helping indebted countries keep the lights on. This is now adding to debt distress across the developing world. AidData, a research group at the College of William and Mary focusing on Chinese lending, ...
After Zambia’s Successful Debt Restructuring, Sri Lankans Hope China Will Also Take the Lead to Help Resolve Their Crisis
Now that Zambia's Creditor Committee reached a landmark debt restructuring deal with its bilateral lenders, there's new optimism that the same will happen in Sri Lanka. The South Asian island state is ...
China Faces Twin Pressure From U.S., IMF Over Debt Crisis in Sri Lanka
The Chinese government is under mounting pressure from both the United States and the International Monetary Fund to do more to help resolve the worsening debt crisis in Sri Lanka. Colombo owes Beijing an estimated $6.5 billion, about 13% of the country's total public debt, ...
Chinese Netizens Aren’t Keen to Bail Out Sri Lanka
While international calls grow louder for China to restructure Sri Lanka's debt obligations, a very different conversation is going on in Chinese media and online communities. Antara Ghosal Singh, an expert on Chinese domestic development and a fellow at the New ...
China Piled On Debt As Sri Lanka Sank: WSJ
The Wall Street Journal has published a highly critical account of China's involvement in Sri Lanka's debt crisis. It quotes current and former Sri Lankan officials claiming that China discouraged them from seeking an early IMF bailout, offering loans for liquidity support instead.
A Taliban security personnel operating an anti-aircraft gun keeps watch for Pakistani airstrikes near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between the two countries. Photo by AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared "open war" against Afghanistan on Friday amid a surge of fighting between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan said it's retaliating against Afghanistan for a series of attacks, including a suicide bombing in early February that killed at least 36 people ...
