Japan, India and France to form common Platform to mitigate Sri Lanka’s Debt

New Delhi (India), 13th April 2023: Japan, France and India will launch a new forum for creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday, adding it would be “very nice” if China were to join the effort.

As chair of this year’s Group of Seven (G7) summit, Japan has highlighted initiatives to alleviate debt vulnerabilities of middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka as topics for consideration.

The announcement of the new platform, launched by Japan, France and G20 chair India, will be made today, Thursday, Suzuki said in a news conference after the G7 finance leaders’ meeting.

Suzuki said, “We altogether made a great effort to set up the framework.” He added, “I hope many countries will participate. It will be very nice if China will join.”

In order to address and solve its crippling debt load and worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which hampered imports of necessities like fuel and medicine and provoked political unrest, Sri Lanka last month received a $2.9 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund.