Financial Times

Govt raises US$ 100 mln as syndicated loan
The Central Bank has announced that it has arranged for the government to obtain US$ 100 million from the international market as a syndicated loan with the funds being expected within a few days.

“The loan proceeds will be utilised to meet the general funding requirements of the government which include development expenditures and to reduce pressure on balance of payments due to a high oil bill,” a Central Bank statement said.

“It will also help to further stabilize domestic interest rates since these funds are raised from the international market.” The move follows Sri Lanka getting sovereign credit ratings from international ratings agencies.

The Central Bank said the Citigroup acted as the facility agent for the loan, selected after carefully evaluating other competitive proposals made by five major banks operating in Sri Lanka. The loan which has a maturity period of three years carries a rate of interest of LIBOR plus 95 bps.

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