DHAKA (Reuters) – Sri Lanka has repaid $50 million to Bangladesh out of a $200 million loan, a senior Bangladesh central bank official said on Monday, as the crisis-hit island nation makes efforts to recover from its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades.
The loan was part of a swap agreement with the Bangladesh Bank in 2021 as Sri Lanka’s neighbours in the region stepped in to help the country battle a financial crisis caused by years of economic mismanagement and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The island nation of 22 million people is making efforts to recover, with a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured in March.
Bangladesh, too, has secured IMF approval in January for loans of $4.7 billion to ward off an economic crisis amid a decline in its foreign exchange reserves and depreciation of the taka currency.
Bangladesh expects Sri Lanka to repay the entire loan this year, with another instalment due later this month, the official at the Bangladesh Bank’s foreign exchange department told Reuters.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
