Bangladesh has extended the term of the US$ 200 million loan that was provided to Sri Lanka under a currency swap.
The country has extended the loan under the currency swap by one more year due to the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
The US$ 200 million currency swap was extended by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to Sri Lanka in 2021.
Sri Lanka received the loan facility from Bangladesh in three tranches. The BB released US$ 50 million as the first tranche under a currency swap deal to support poorly-rated Sri Lanka on August 19, 2021.
The second tranche amounting to US$ 100 million was released on August 30, 2021, and the final installment worth US$ 50 million was released on September 21, 2021.
In December 2021, the Bangladesh Bank extended the validity of the credit facility provided to Sri Lanka by three months, after the expiry of the first three-month tenure of the credit facility. The loan facility had been renewed following a request made by Sri Lanka.
In March 2022, Sri Lanka sought another US$ 250 million currency swap from Bangladesh.
The request for a US$ 250 million currency swap came on the back of the US$ 200 million currency swap that was extended by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to Sri Lanka in 2021.
Thereafter, last week (06 May), Bangladesh confirmed a US$ 2.3 million worth of donation of essential medicines to Sri Lanka.
Health Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana said the donation of essential medicines consisted of 56 types of essential medicines. (NewsWire)