The Sri Lankan government has ordered the closure of at least three overseas missions, in a desperate bid to cut down on government expenditure in the face of an economic crisis and mounting international debts.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Sri Lankan Consulate in Frankfurt, the Embassy in Nigeria, and the Sri Lankan Consulate in Cyprus are all due to be shut down shortly.
“This is part of a cost cutting process that all other ministries are also now following,” Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris told the Daily Mirror.
The Consulate in Frankfurt will be shifted to Berlin, whilst the Embassy in Nigeria and Consulate in Cyprus will be shut entirely.
This week, Sri Lanka's finance minister Basil Rajapaksa admitted to parliament that the country is not receiving foreign investments as quickly as anticipated.
Earlier he claimed that loan payments in excess of USD $1.5 billion dollars due next year will be paid and that "there is no need to worry", despite low foreign reserves and a slashed credit rating but acknowledged economic turmoil will persist through 2022.
In recent months banks have been blacklisted by the Chinese government for failing to make payments on imports and leading credit rating agencies have slashed and downgraded the country's debt rating.
Moody's recently downgraded the country's debt rating, stating the island was at risk of default as it lacked a clear debt repayment plan.
