According to reliable sources, the loan instalment payment relief provided by China to Sri Lanka in 2022 is scheduled to end after the 12th of April.
The sources indicate that the Chinese government has already informed the government about this and has informed them to resume the payment of the debt.
Accordingly, there has been a discussion in the political field about whether Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s sudden visit to China was to further extend this Chinese debt relief.
Sri Lanka owes China 26.4 billion dollars and after the last Corona season, China had given Sri Lanka a grace period of two years from April 12, 2022, to not pay the debt.
Only a few more days until the end of that period. Accordingly, China has informed that after the expiry of that period, Sri Lanka should start paying the Chinese debt again.
There, the government requested to extend the concession period again, but China has informed that if such is done, other countries will also similarly request loan concession periods.
Sri Lanka has indicated to China that other countries in the world owe about 600 billion US dollars to China, and if only Sri Lanka is given a grace period to pay the debt, other countries are also likely to make the same request, and if that happens, it will be a serious crisis.
According to that, it is said that China has further informed to start paying the debt from April, and then it can consider giving some relief in the middle.