Sri Lanka president to visit China as debt talks progress – source

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be heading to China in the approaching week as the destruction -impacted nation makes growth on debt restructuring conversations with its hugest lender, a source in his office conveyed Reuters on Friday. Wickremesinghe took office in July previous year, after a well known uprising, launched by an economic meltdown, had forced his predecessor out of power.

His Oct. 15-19 visit to Beijing will be his first to China since then. Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, has been leading Sri Lanka’s push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He will attend a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing that would mark the 10th anniversary of the initiative championed by China’s President Xi Jinping to develop global infrastructure and energy networks.

Wickremesinghe is anticipated to encounter Xi on the sidelines of the forum, said the source who denied to be named as he was not authorised to converse with the media. The Sri Lankan governer could also encounter China’s finance and foreign ministers, the source added. The president’s media office and Sri Lankan foreign ministry held back to at the moment make a reply to appeals for remark.