AFP, COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new government plans to borrow up to $2.0 billion from overseas, the finance minister said Thursday, just two weeks after raising a billion through its first international bond issue. Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the government was seeking at least $1.0 billion with a five-year tenure, but may increase the loan amount to $2.0 billion depending on the market response. “Tomorrow we will advertise and call for bids. We hope to collect $1.0 billion in a couple of days. It would
even go up to $2.0 billion,” Karunanayake said.
The move to raise foreign cash comes amid rising domestic spending and shortfalls in revenue collection, the minister said, while accusing the previous administration of overstating revenues and under estimating expenditure.
“We want to borrow at low interest rates to pay off the high interest loans taken by the previous government,” the minister told the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Sri Lanka.