The State Bank of India (SBI) has extended the tenure of the USD 1 billion credit facility provided to the Sri Lankan government for procurement of essential items in March 2022.
An amendment agreement was signed today (30), in the presence of the State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, senior officials from the Ministry of Finance of Sri Lanka and officials from High Commission of India, Colombo. Officials from the State Bank of India joined the event from India virtually.
With the signing of the amendment agreement, the credit facility will be available for use of the Sri Lanka government for a period of one more year, till March 2024.
Since last year, the facility has been used for urgent procurement of fuel, medicines, food items and industrial raw materials, as per the requirements and priorities of GOSL.
The Indian government extended multi-pronged assistance of about USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka last year, through multiple credit lines and currency support, in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
