Gotabaya Rajapaksa asks experts to plan debt restructure

COLOMBO, Apr 07 (AFP): Sri Lanka's beleaguered president has appointed an expert panel to organise a debt restructure to claw the country out of a crippling economic crisis that has sparked huge protests demanding his resignation.
Scarce supplies of food and fuel, along with record inflation and regular blackouts, have inflicted widespread misery in the country's most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.
Rating agencies have warned of a potential default on Sri Lanka's $51 billion foreign debt, and authorities have been unable to raise more commercial loans because of credit downgrades. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office said late Wednesday that the three-member advisory panel had been tasked with guiding Sri Lanka through a "sustainable and inclusive recovery". His government is preparing for bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, and finance ministry officials told AFP the trio will prepare a programme for sovereign bond holders and other creditors to take a haircut.