The State Bank of India extends its US$1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka by another year

In response to a request from the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), the State Bank of India (SBI) has extended the tenure of the USD 1 billion credit facility provided to GOSL for the procurement of essential items until March 2024.

In this context, an Amendment Agreement was signed on May 30, 2023, in the presence of the State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, senior officials from the Ministry of Finance of Sri Lanka, and officials from the High Commission of India, Colombo. Officials from the State Bank of India joined the event virtually from India.

With the signing of the amended agreement, the credit facility

will be available for use by GOSL for a period of one more year, until March 2024. It may be recalled that since last year, the facility has been used for urgent procurement of fuel, medicines, food items, and industrial raw materials, as per the requirements and priorities of GOSL.

The Government of India extended multi-pronged assistance of about USD 4 billion to GOSL last year through multiple credit lines and currency support, in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. India’s continued support for Sri Lanka is a testament to our abiding commitment to stand with the government and the people of Sri Lanka towards early economic stabilization and recovery.