Sri Lanka accepts $1bn loan from China Development Bank

Sri Lanka has accepted a $1 billion, eight-year China Development Bank syndicated loan to repay loans maturing this year. The bank was chosen from among four bidding for the loan. The effective rate of return is around 5.3%. The loan has a three-year grace period.

The government is also preparing to refinance big debts that fall due up to 2022, with the start this year of repayments on expensive infrastructure foreign loans.