COLOMBO -- Dollar-strapped Sri Lanka is racing against time to secure a diplomatic breakthrough with China, Japan and India, the bilateral lenders who have yet to come up with a debt restructuring blueprint that would allow the South Asian nation to unlock a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Colombo hopes to be able to go to the IMF's board in December armed with "creditor assurances." To this end, its behind-the-scenes diplomacy toward its leading Asian lenders is in overdrive, involving the president, cabinet ministers and central bank officials, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview.
