Cabinet mulls RMB and Yen bonds

22 August 2018 07:53 am

The Cabinet is reported to have decided to explore the possibility of issuing International Sovereign Bonds in Renminbi (RMB) and Japanese Yen instead of depending solely on the US dollar for the purpose of raising funds.

Sri Lanka currently issues such bonds only in US currency. However, the Cabinet decided to issue bonds in Chinese and Japanese currencies as well.

The Cabinet appointed a five-member committee comprising officials from the Treasury and The Central Bank to explore various possibilities and work out modalities for this purpose.

China promotes RMB as a currency to be used in international trading and has also signed currency swap agreements with several countries. It is doing so to avoid the exchange cost of converting to the US dollars when trading with the respective countries. (Kelum Bandara)