COLOMBO: Total outstanding external debt of the Sri Lankan government reached 23.1 billion U.S. dollars by the end of Apirl, the Mid-Year Fiscal Position Report 2016 released by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
According to the report, the total debt service payments from January to April 2016 amounted to 546.8 million U.S. dollars. Of which, 309.7 million U.S. dollars was for principal payment and the balance 237.1 million dollars was for interest payment.
Total estimated debt service payment for 2016 is 1.64 billion dollars, of which 33.5 percent has already been made by April 30, 2016. As per the estimates for the remaining period of July and September of 2016 are expected to have relatively larger debt service requirements.
Despite domestic and international challenges, the Sri Lankan economy grew by a faster pace of 5.5 percent, in real terms, in the first quarter of 2016, while the external sector showed modest performance during the first four months of 2016 with the contraction of the trade deficit coupled with higher foreign currency inflows from workers’ remittances and tourist earnings, the report said.
