Negotiations underway for currency swap deal with China

By Kelum Bandara

Negotiations are underway between Sri Lanka and China for a currency swap agreement, a spokesperson said yesterday.  The Chinese People’s Bank which is China’s Central Bank and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are currently negotiating this agreement.  

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Colombo told Daily Mirror that there would be some concrete developments by the end of this month hopefully. He said the amount would be negotiated.   

Asked about the request for a moratorium for the repayment of loans obtained from China, he said the two countries were in close contact with each other regarding financial cooperation in terms of loans, investments and other forms.  China’s central bank today announced signing of a $ 1.63 billion currency swap deal with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  

A similar currency swap agreement had been signed between the two Central Banks in 2014 when Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President.   

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will sign a US $ 1.1 billion currency swap deal with the Reserve Bank of India this week.