Colombo: A special session of Sri Lanka's Parliament on July 1 overwhelmingly approved the cash-strapped government's domestic debt restructuring (DDR) plan, a vital element in the bankrupt nation’s bid for recovery from the worst economic crisis. Domestic debt restructuring (DDR) is a key condition in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, through which a bailout package of $3 billion was approved for Sri Lanka in March.
The IMF programme unlocks more help from international funding agencies. Accordingly, the World Bank, earlier this week, approved $700 million in financing as budgetary and welfare support for Sri Lanka, which is facing its worst economic crisis since it won independence from the British in 1948.
The DDR plan won parliamentary approval with 122 lawmakers voting for it while 62 going against it. The approval of the DDR came as members from the Sri Lankan government and the Opposition earlier locked horns in the parliament during the DDR debate and saw aggressive arguments from both sides.
The noisy Opposition protested that the agreement had been to extend the debate up to 9:30 in the night. However, the speaker overruled them and ordered electronic voting. The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya and its allies including, the main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance legislators voted against the resolution.
The government sought to restructure its domestic debt amounting to USD 42 billion to run parallel with ongoing negotiations on restructuring the external debt of USD 41 billion.