Days after settling the $400 currency swap with the State Bank of India, Sri Lankan authorities are now in discussion with China to obtain a fresh loan of $1.5 billion, Newswire reported. Also, Sri Lanka said they would receive 300,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines from China next week.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance also informed that they were engaged with India and China for currency swap deals. This comes after reports indicated the dwindling foreign reserve of the country. 

Earlier also, in the aftermath of Covid-19, Sri Lankan authorities imposed strict import restrictions to maintain its forex. On the other hand, India on Friday clarified that the extension of any currency swap deal won’t be possible unless the Sri Lanka government signs an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Meanwhile, Prasanna Gunasena, the chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation, said the Sri Lankan regulators gave their emergency use approval to Sinopharm, the COVID-19 vaccines developed by a Chinese state-run firm.  

Around 300000 doses of the vaccines are expected to arrive next week. China has earlier announced donating vaccines to Sri Lanka. Earlier, India provided around 1 million doses of Covishield, the Astra-Zeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, to Sri Lanka.