Sri Lanka announces a bank holiday to restructure its internal debt

An official said that Sri Lanka would have a five-day bank holiday from June 29 to July 3 to allow for the restructuring of domestic debt.

Nandalal Weerasinghe, the governor of the Sri Lankan Central Bank, assured the media that bank transactions will not be impacted at that time.

Weerasinghe had earlier emphasised that the central bank’s primary goal was to stabilise the financial sector, and that steps will be made to preserve public deposits and maintain the general stability of the banking system.

When Sri Lanka experienced its biggest financial crisis since gaining independence in April 2022, it declared a suspension of international debt obligations.

A 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility was granted by the International Monetary Fund in March of this year to assist Sri Lanka’s economic policies and reforms.