CB confirms receipt of $ 1 b from China Development Bank

As exclusively reported by Daily FT, the Central Bank yesterday confirmed that  the $1 billion Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility from China Development Bank had been received to strengthen reserves and potentially help steady the rupee.

The Bank said the Government of Sri Lanka invited to submit proposals from international and domestic banks and investment houses for a Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility (FCTFF) denominated in United State Dollar (USD) or Japanese Yen (JPY) or Euro or of their combination up to a limit of $USD 1,000 million in March 2018.

Accordingly, four proposals were received from international and domestic banks and investment houses. Through a strict evaluation and negotiation process by a Cabinet appointed Steering Committee and Technical Evaluation Committee, the China Development Bank (CDB) was selected as the syndicate arranger based on least cost and longer maturity period given in its proposal submitted.

Consequently, the Government of Sri Lanka secured $ 1,000 million from CDB under the FCTFF with a maturity period of eight years. The interest cost is highly competitive and linked to six-month USD LIBOR with a grace period of three years. The repayment will be in equal semi-annual payments after the grace period. The resulting inflow increases the official foreign reserves by $ 1,000 million.