Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Appeals for Bridging Finance in Tokyo

Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg News

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 01: Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presents his national statement during day two of COP26 at SECC on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Andy Buchanan - Pool/Getty Images) , Photographer: Pool/Getty Images Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appealed for bridging finance from other Asian nations at an event in Japan as his country seeks to reach a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking online at the Future of Asia conference, Rajapaksa said he hoped for an early deal with Japan in negotiations he said were under way concerning bridging loans. He also asked for support from other Asian nations.

“We urgently require the assistance of our friends in the international community to ensure that our immediate needs in terms of importation of essential medicines, food supplies, and fuel are met,” Rajapaksa said.

Sri Lanka is looking to fast-track talks with the IMF and agree on a loan by mid-June so that it can then approach other lenders for urgently needed funds.

Rajapaksa blamed the virus-induced closure of the tourism industry, the decline in remittances from expatriates and increasing inflation as well as Sri Lanka’s high debt obligations for the financial crisis.