By Uditha Jayasinghe
COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka is asking international bondholders to take a 30% haircut and is seeking similar concessions from investors in its domestic dollar-denominated notes as it seeks to overhaul its massive debt, its central bank governor said on Thursday.
Unveiling details of the long-awaited plan, central bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said the government will also exchange shorter-term treasury bills for longer-term bonds in the overhaul covering part of the island nation’s $42 billion domestic debt. Domestic banks’ bond holdings are ring-fenced to avoid stress in the financial sector.
Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst financial crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948 after the country’s foreign exchange reserves hit record lows and triggered its first foreign debt default last year. The economic collapse triggered widespread protests and forced former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country last July.
Pledging to put its mammoth debt burden on a sustainable track, Sri Lanka locked down a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March, which is due for a first review in September.
The domestic restructuring is just one part of the plan to help the country reach the IMF programme goal of reducing overall debt to 95% of GDP by 2032.
The government also aims to rework its foreign debt with bondholders and bilateral creditors including China, Japan and India.
While the domestic plan announced on Thursday did not give details on Colombo’s pitch to foreign lenders, Weerasinghe indicated the government is proposing the same terms to both local and international creditors.
Under the domestic debt revamp, holders of locally issued dollar-denominated bonds, such as Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs), will be given three options, Weerasinghe said.
The first would be treatment similar to that being proposed to investors in the country’s $12.5 billion of international sovereign bonds — a 30% reduction in the principal they are owed, with repayment in six years at a 4% interest rate, he said.
“We are asking foreign debt holders for a 30% haircut but that is still under discussion,” Weerasinghe said.
BONDS RALLY
The country’s international dollar-bonds rose sharply on Thursday, with some maturities up nearly 3 cents and trading at levels last seen more than a year ago.
Fund managers said the rally reflected relief after investors had braced for steeper write-offs. However, they suspected the government’s desire for quick progress had determined the lower-than-expected haircut.
“Sri Lanka is under enormous pressure to restructure as quickly as possible and get its economy back on track, they need funds to import a lot of goods to reinvigorate their key tourism industry,” Lutz Roehmeyer, fund manager at Capitulum Asset Management, who holds Sri Lanka international bonds.
“A 30% haircut is too little given the shape the country’s economy is in.”
Another investor, who declined to be named, said questions remained whether the offer to international bondholders would be “ticking all the boxes of the IMF”.
The creditor committee representing Eurobond holders did not immediately comment on the proposal.
Weerasinghe did not comment on current talks with bilateral creditors who hold $11.3 billion in loans.
China wants multilateral lenders like the IMF and the World Bank to absorb some of the losses – a demand which those institutions and many developed nations, notably the United States, are resisting.
FINISHING LINE
Sri Lanka wants to complete debt restructuring talks by September to align with the IMF review.
The domestic debt proposals will be presented to parliament on Saturday for approval.
Earlier on Thursday, the World Bank approved $700 million in budgetary and welfare support for the country, the biggest funding tranche since the IMF deal in March.
As part of efforts to shore up its finances and win IMF support, the government has raised taxes, cut spending and slashed subsidies on goods such as fuel, and the economy is starting to show signs of recovery.
Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved the domestic debt programme at a special meeting on Wednesday, a source at the president’s office told Reuters.
Instead of a 30% write-off, domestic bondholders could alternatively opt for no reduction in principal in favour of a 15-year maturity extension with a 9-year grace period at a 1.5% interest rate.
A third option would be to exchange their holdings for local currency denominated instruments at no principal haircut with a 10-year maturity at the SLFR (Sri Lanka Standing Lending Facility Rate) + 1% interest rate.
Local currency bonds held by superannuation funds, including pension funds, will be replaced with new bonds paying 9% interest.
(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, additional reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario and Karin Strohecker, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Karin Strohecker; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Kim Coghill, Simon Cameron-Moore and Toby Chopra)
