COLOMBO, April 8 — Sri Lanka’s finance minister today said that the crisis-hit country must urgently restructure its debt and seek external help, while the main opposition threatened a no-confidence motion and business leaders warned that exports could plummet.
A repayment of US$1 billion is due in July. JP Morgan analysts estimate that Sri Lanka’s gross debt servicing costs will amount to US$7 billion this year in total. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is running his administration with only a handful of ministers after his entire cabinet resigned this week, while the opposition and even some coalition partners rejected calls for a unity government to deal with the worst crisis in decades.
“It is imperative that Sri Lanka must avoid a disorderly debt default. The government must work to suspend debt and appoint financial advisers to start off the process of restructuring debt.” Masakorala said that both merchandise and service exports could drop 20 per cent-30 per cent this year due to a dollar shortage, higher freight costs and power cuts.
Inflation, meanwhile, has rocketed to its highest level in more than a decade, and on Friday evening, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is expected to raise key interest rates by as much as 400 basis points following a 100 bps rise in early March.