Sri Lanka and China have signed a $1.5 billion currency swap deal, the island nation’s central bank said on Tuesday, as it struggles with a major foreign exchange crisis and debt repayments.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said the three-year swap arrangement for 10 billion yuan with the People’s Bank of China was “with a view to promoting bilateral trade and direct investment for economic development of the two countries”.
Chinese influence in the South Asian nation has been growing in recent years, through loans and projects under its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, raising concerns among regional powers and Western nations.
