(Photo: Reuters)The war in Ukraine is making it tougher for many emerging-market governments to make debt payments to foreign creditors, fueling concerns of potential crises that could shake markets and weaken the global economic recovery. Last Tuesday, Sri Lanka said it would suspend foreign debt payments and requested emergency financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund. Its finance ministry said the Ukraine war and the pandemic, which had hurt tourism revenue, left it unable to make the payments. Debt is considered distressed when a country is unable to fulfill its financial obligations and debt restructuring is required. The government got $400 million in financing last month from the World Bank and hopes to secure a lifeline from the IMF.

Source: Bangkok Post April 19, 2022 05:57 UTC