AMN/ WEB DESK
Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved a motion granting authority to the Finance Minister to restructure the country’s domestic debt. Speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that the motion was passed with 122 votes in favor and 62 against. The opposition, however, voted against the motion, citing concerns about the extension of government bond maturities held by the Employees Provident Fund and the central bank. Opposition members argued that beneficiaries of the provident funds, managed by the state, were not consulted.
Sri Lanka had on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive restructuring plan for its domestic debt to meet the targets set by the International Monetary Fund. The plan involves exchanging the existing treasury bills for long-term bonds with three options for holders of locally issued dollar-denominated bonds.
Sri Lanka has been required under the IMF program to restructure its domestic debt which has been estimated at about 42 Billion USD. IMF had approved a bridge financing plan of almost 3 billion USD earlier this year. The external debt held by bilateral creditor nations and commercial lenders is still under discussion.