- Acting ministers appointed
President Ranil Wickremesinghe was expected to leave for a four-day official visit to China last evening (15) and is expected to attend the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
The four-day visit is expected to last till Friday (20). The visit comes in the wake of last weeks’ announcement that the China EXIM Bank had reached an agreement with Sri Lankan authorities over a deal regarding debt restructuring.
An outcome, which Finance Ministry officials, who were in Morocco at the time of the announcement had reportedly scrambled to verify and also had to assure other creditors that no final agreement has been reached.
The president is expected to discuss key issues such as debt restructuring, investments and the thorny subject of Chinese Marine Scientific Research ships calling on Sri Lankan ports during his visit. Given the positive announcement China has made regarding debt restructuring, and the urgent need to finalise an agreement with China on the debt issue, the matter of the Chinese ship visits may likely be an uncomfortable one.
According to the Presidential Media Unit, State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was appointed the Acting Minister of Finance and State Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, as the Acting Minister of Defence.