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China offers US $300m loan as Sri Lanka struggles for finance - Reuters

The Bank of China has offered Sri Lanka a loan of US $300 million, which could be increased up to a total of US $1 billion, as Sri Lanka struggles to regain international confidence following last year's political crisis, Reuters reported. 

The news wire cited a source as saying Colombo was considering the offer due to "difficulty in borrowing money after recent rating downgrades". 

Sri Lanka plunged into crisis last October after the president replaced the prime minister and dissolved parliament. 

Financial institutions responded with stalled loan agreements and a downgrading of the country's sovereign. 

The Chinese offer comes as Sri Lanka's financial minister, Mangala Samaraweera held meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington this week in view of resuming the External Fund Facility (EFF). 

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