China expresses support for Sri Lanka

China expressed support for Sri Lanka ahead of a meeting Friday of government lenders to poor economies but did not say if it might help to cut multibillion-dollar debts that have plunged the Indian Ocean island nation into financial and political turmoil. Beijing is one of Sri Lanka’s biggest creditors after it borrowed under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade by building ports and other facilities across Asia and Africa. China has offered a two-year suspension of repayments but balked at cutting the amount borrowed. That is an obstacle to to obtaining an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund, which wants other creditors to agree to debt reductions. Chinese officials are due to attend a meeting of lenders organized by the IMF and the Paris Club of government creditors. The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said last month the agency was talking with Beijing about ways of “reducing the burden of debt.” The Paris Club, after announcing last week assurances on working with Sri Lanka, said “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official bilateral creditors, including China, to do the same in line with IMF program parameters as soon as possible.” China accounts for about 10% of Sri Lanka’s $51 billion foreign debt. The island nation of 22 million people ran out of foreign currency last year. That triggered power cuts, food shortages and protests that forced a president and prime minister to resign. China is “willing to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role to help Sri Lanka get over current difficulties,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, when asked whether Beijing would agree to debt reduction.