According to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman attended a high-level meeting on Sri Lanka’s debt issues on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank (WB) Spring Meetings in Washington DC on Thursday (Local Time). The meeting’s goal was to demonstrate multilateral cooperation among creditors in the debt restructuring process, in collaboration with Sri Lanka. The ministers announced the start of the debt restructuring negotiation process in Sri Lanka, with the three Co-Chairs – India, Japan, and France – leading the coordinated debt restructuring of Sri Lanka. Apart from Sitharaman, Suzuki Shunichi, Finance Minister of Japan and Emmanuel Moulin, Director General of the Treasury, France, and Shehan Semasinghe, State Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka, were also present at the meeting. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President and Finance minister of Sri Lanka also participated in the event virtually.
Union Finance Minister Sitharaman expressed India’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka in dealing with its current economic crisis. She emphasised that collaboration among creditors is important to ensure transparency and equality in the treatment of all creditors in the debt restructuring discussions, the release read. During the meeting, the finance minister mentioned that the “Evolution of the World Bank Group – A Report to Governors” provides a historic opportunity for the World Bank Group to think collectively about its evolution. According to the finance ministry’s tweets, Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the World Bank should continue to work towards its vision of ‘A World Free of Poverty,’ and that it should strive to achieve its mission of ‘ending extreme poverty’ and ‘promoting shared prosperity’ in an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable manner.