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

<p>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.&nbsp;</p> <p>The news wire cited a source as saying Colombo was considering the offer due to "difficulty in borrowing money after recent rating downgrades".&nbsp;</p> <p>Sri Lanka plunged into crisis last October after the president replaced the prime minister and dissolved parliament.&nbsp;</p> <p>Financial institutions responded with stalled loan agreements and a downgrading of the country's sovereign.&nbsp;</p> <p>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&nbsp;External Fund Facility (EFF).&nbsp;</p>