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Sri Lanka Faces Wall of Debt Payments Amid Economic Meltdown

  • Repayment of $8.6 billion of local and foreign debt due 2022
  • Securing deal with IMF key to resolution: Bloomberg Economics
Medical students protest against Sri Lanka's crippling economic crisis, outside the Health Ministry in Colombo on April 6.

Medical students protest against Sri Lanka's crippling economic crisis, outside the Health Ministry in Colombo on April 6.

Photographer: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka faces $8.6 billion worth of debt payments due this year as the implosion of its economy and worsening political turmoil cast doubt on its ability to pay any of it.

Among them, the South Asian country needs to honor a combined $2.2 billion of principal and interest payments for dollar-denominated bonds and loans, with the number rising to about $2.7 billion annually in both 2023 and 2024, available data compiled by Bloomberg show.