Sri Lanka signed a deal with creditor nations to restructure about $5.8 billion in bilateral debt, the office of the country’s president said on Wednesday, in a move that would help stabilise its crisis-hit economy.

Officials from the cash-strapped South Asian nation signed the agreement in Paris with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), which is co-chaired by Japan, India, and France.

“This agreement grants significant debt relief, allowing Sri Lanka to allocate funds to essential public services & secure concessional financing for its development needs,” the president’s media office said in a statement.

Sri Lanka is also in the process of signing separate bilateral agreements with China EXIM Bank to restructure $4.2 billion of debt, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said on social media platform X.

(Reuters)