Sri Lanka warns it will default on its foreign debt amid crisis

Sri Lanka has said it will temporarily default on its foreign debts amid its worst economic crisis in over 70 years, according to international news agencies.

Officials said the impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine war made it “impossible” to pay its creditors.

The South Asian country has seen mass protests as it suffers food shortages, soaring prices and power cuts.

It is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week on a loan programme to get its economy back on track.

Sri Lanka’s finance ministry said it otherwise had an “unblemished record” of paying its dues since independence from the UK in 1948, international news agencies said.