Sri Lanka announces that it has defaulted on all its external debts

Foreign-currency-starved Sri Lanka announced today that it will default on its total external debt of $51 billion, pending a rescue plan by the International Monetary Fund, as the country faces its worst recession since independence in 1948.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Finance announced that creditors, including foreign governments that have lent the South Asian country, can capitalize the payments due from Tuesday afternoon or choose to get their money in Sri Lankan rupees.

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