Sri Lanka urges China and India to cut debts as soon as possible

In an effort to help crisis-hit Sri Lanka to start repaying its debt obligations, the central bank of the island has urged China and India to negotiate the loan amount as soon as possible.

According to BBC reports, the crisis-hit indian ocean nation defaulted on its debt repayments and negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.4bn) bailout with IMF.

But the International Monetary Fund will not release the cash until China and India first agree to reduce Sri Lanka's billions of dollars of debt.

Beijing's lending to Sri Lanka stands at around $7bn while India is owed around $1bn.

The island nation has defaulted on its $46 billion public debt after an unprecedented economic crisis last year brought widespread misery.

Sri Lanka's 22 million people have been enduring months of food and fuel shortages, chronic blackouts and runaway inflation last year, inflaming public anger.

Wickremesinghe came to power in July at the peak of the crisis after his predecessor fled the country when protesters stormed his residence.