Paris Club welcomes passage of resolution by Sri Lankan Parliament
The Paris Club’s official creditor committee after their first meeting in a statement said that they welcome passage of the resolution by the Sri Lankan Parliament on April 28, 2023 for implementation of the IMF-supported programme.
The creditor committee also said it takes note of the open letter addressed by the President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickramasinghe to all its official bilateral creditors on March 14, 2023 ensuring transparency and comparability of treatment for all external creditors and ensuring that no side arrangements inconsistent with comparability of treatment will be made with any creditor.
The Sri Lankan authorities attended the meeting and formally presented their request for a debt treatment. They reiterated their commitment to transparency and comparability of treatment towards their official bilateral creditors.
The IMF and World Bank representatives presented the latest macroeconomic developments regarding Sri Lanka and the current status of their relationship with the country.
The creditor committee for Sri Lanka will pursue its work to find an appropriate solution to Sri Lanka’s external debt vulnerabilities, consistent with the parameters of the IMF program. It stresses the importance for private creditors and other official bilateral creditors of Sri Lanka to provide a debt treatment on terms at least as favorable as the ones agreed by this creditor committee, in line with the comparability of treatment principle. It reiterates its invitation to other bilateral official creditors to formally join the creditor committee.
On May 9 2023, 17 countries formally formed an official creditor committee, co-chaired by India, Japan and France, to discuss the Sri Lankan authorities’ request for a debt treatment. The committee includes Paris Club creditors as well as other official bilateral creditors.
This first meeting occurred after the successful launch of the debt restructuring process for Sri Lanka led by the co-chairs on April 13, 2023.