“China affirmed continuous support”

China has affirmed that they will always support Sri Lanka to recover from the economic crisis, said State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe participating in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in USA.

“With the successful conclusion of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on the Extended Fund Facility, we have come to the Debt Restructuring Program in the framework of a Special Creditors Coordinating Committee consisting of India, France, and Japan.”

“I arrived after attending the IMF and World Bank session on Sri Lanka’s reforms to revive the economy and the Extended Fund Facility which was approved last month. The Sri Lankan economy has faced the devastating effects of the multiple crises we are facing today. In addition, Sri Lanka has had many severe challenges in recent times.

“Sri Lanka has identified the obstacles in building its economy in this credit system and solving acute financial problems and ensuring sustainable development requires political will to take quick decisions. Accordingly, the Government of Sri Lanka is committed to take the policy decisions which can be hard but are needed for economic recovery.”

The state minister pointed out that as a result of events arising from the Covid epidemic to the Ukraine conflict and climate change, many countries are at risk of not being able to achieve the sustainable development goals targeted for the year 2030.

The state minister also mentioned that lack of sufficient sustainable financing is the basic and main challenge faced by many states.

Semasinghe also pointed out the need for political attention at the global level to support countries in debt restructuring and debt sustainability, as well as fulfilling the pledges already made regarding official development assistance on international financial reform.