$ 300 m loan, two new SWAP facilities to boost reserves, Govt. tells P’ment

• State Minister Shehan Semasinghe reveals SWAP facilities worth $ 400 m with Qatar and $ 1 b with India, subject to being finalised
• Says Rs. 220 b COVID-related expenses hit foreign reserves, in response to query raised by JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake

 State Minister Shehan Semasinghe yesterday told Parliament that necessary measures had been put in place to increase the country’s foreign reserves, which had fallen to $ 1.5 billion as of November. 

He said the steps taken include a $ 1 billion SWAP facility with the Central Bank of Qatar, a $ 400 million SWAP facility with the Reserve Bank of India and a $300 million from the Consolidated Loan Facility.

Semasinghe disclosed the information in response to a query raised by MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

“Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves stood at $ 8.6 billion by end-2014, while it had dropped down to $ 7.6 billion by the end of 2019, thus resulting in an increase of foreign debt services. Sri Lanka’s foreign debts were 42.4% of total debt services in 2014, while it had risen to 46.4% by end-2019. However, the aim of our Government is to limit total foreign debt service to 40% of total debt services,” he said.

He said the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the county’s foreign reserves hard. Semasinghe disclosed that Sri Lanka had spent a sum of Rs. 221 billion for pandemic-related expenses this year. He noted, though, that the vaccination program against the disease has been a success.

“We have managed to provide both vaccines to 76.2% of the population. This is higher than the global standards, as only 55.3% of the global population are fully vaccinated at the moment.”

Semasinghe added that Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had secured an agreement with India for the purchase of essential goods, as well as fuel. 

He added that the Government hopes to secure $ 500 million of foreign remittances.

“We hope these activities will be effective solutions to the current crisis and seek the support of the Opposition as well. The Opposition is welcome to come up with proposals in this regard,” he said.