Sri Lanka to sign $1 bn credit line with India to help pay for key imports

Sri Lanka's government last year reached out to India, among other countries, to negotiate credit lines and currency swaps

Sri Lanka's finance minister will visit New Delhi on Tuesday to sign a $1 billion credit line to pay for essential imports of food and medicine, an official said on Monday, as the island nation struggles with its worst financial crisis in years. The island's foreign reserves have dropped 70% in the last two years to $2.31 billion in February, stalling critical imports including of fuel.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who first announced the Indian credit line in February, will sign an agreement for it on Wednesday to pay for essentials including medicine, wheat flour, sugar and rice.

"Sri Lanka imports about