Minister Basil arrives in New Delhi for important visit

Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers over the next two days, The Hindu Newspaper reported.

He is likely to seek crucial economic assistance from India by way of investments and enhanced tourist exchanges, official sources in Colombo indicated, The Hindu News report added.

Sri Lankan newspaper the Sunday Morning reported that the main focus of the visit would be on securing a line of credit that would help ease the growing pressure on Sri Lanka’s depleted foreign reserves.

“It is learnt that Rajapaksa is to push for a $ 1.5 billion credit line with India in order to ease pressure on the country’s foreign reserves, while also preventing a scenario where the Government would have to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the current economic crisis.” Sunday  Morning news report added.