President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the Sri Lankan government expects to conclude discussions and reach an agreement with private bondholders on restructuring the country’s debt next week.

He made this statement while addressing the “Ekwa Jayagamu” public rally in Matara on Sunday (30).

In a significant milestone, Sri Lanka recently sealed a deal with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) to restructure the debt owed to its bilateral lenders, including India, and signed a separate agreement with China for debt treatment.

Wickremesinghe noted that since signing the agreements with bilateral creditors, representatives of private bondholders have begun discussions with the government.

“As of now, we have successfully achieved progress on both sides. We are expecting to successfully conclude this by next week,” he said.

The President also announced that elections, including the Presidential Election, General Election, and Provincial Council Election, will take place within this year and next year.

The United National Party (UNP) and a section of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) launched the President’s election campaign island-wide, starting from Matara under the theme ‘Ekwa Jayagamu’ (Victory Through Unity).

The rally was attended by Ministers Prasanna Ranatunga, Kanchana Wijesekera, Ali Sabry, Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara, Ramesh Pathirana, Douglas Devananda, North Western Province Governor Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, and President’s Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor on National Security Sagala Ratnayake.