Japan Finance Minister: Tokyo will coordinate with other Sri Lanka creditors on debt

TOKYO : Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday it was important for all creditor nations of Sri Lanka to gather to discuss Colombo’s debt issue, adding that Tokyo would coordinate with other creditors on the matter.

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Reuters this month that Sri Lanka would ask Japan to invite the main creditor nations to talks on restructuring bilateral debts.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said his country was not in talks with Sri Lanka to hold such a meeting.

“We are having various interactions with the Sri Lanka side, but no preparation is going on with Sri Lanka for holding such talks,” Hayashi told a regular news conference.

(This story was corrected in 2nd paragraph to show president made comment this month, not last month)

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Kim Coghill and Tom Hogue)