Loan for lanka: Dhaka yet to decide on $250m

Bangladesh is looking into cash-strapped Sri Lanka's request for another loan of $250 million but no decision has been made yet in this regard, said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

"They have made another approach and we will look into it. It will be another loan but it's not decided yet," he said here yesterday while responding to a question on the island nation's deepening financial crisis on the sidelines of the 18th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting.

Regarding the global uncertainty, the minister said it is not clear how things will work out (after the current situation in Ukraine).

Momen said Bangladesh mostly depends on imported energy. "So, we're watching it and seeing how we can help each other."

He said Bangladesh, for the first time, went for a $250 million currency swap when Sri Lanka faced difficulties. "Sri Lanka is still facing difficulties. So, we extended the time for the repayment."

It was the first-ever loan to any country from Bangladesh under the currency swap agreement inked by the Bangladesh Bank and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on August 3 last year.

The island nation's debt load is apparently becoming increasingly difficult to manage as it also struggles to pay for imports of fuel and other necessities, leading to power cuts and other shortages.

The South Asian country of 22 million people is struggling to pay for essential imports after a 70 percent drop in foreign exchange reserves in two years.

Sri Lanka has also sought an additional credit line from India to import essentials.