The International Debt Report 2023 of the World Bank has put Sri Lanka’s external debt in 2022 at US$ 58.7 billion. Bondholders and private creditors accounted for 72% of the external debt.
The break-up is as follows: Bondholders (32%); Other Commercial Creditors (8%); Private Creditors (40%); Multilateral Creditors (29%); Bilateral Creditors (31%); World Bank and International Development Agency (8%); Asian Development Bank (15%); China (16%); Japan (7%); India (5%); Other Bilateral Creditors (3%).
History of External Debt Stocks
I Total External Debt Stocks:
2010-US$ 21.6 billion; 2018-US$ 52.9 billion; 2019-US$ 56.1 billion; 2020-US$ 56.8 billion; 2021-US$ 58.7 billion; 2022-US$ 58.7 billion.
II Long-Term External Debt Stocks:
2010-US$ 17.3 billion; 2018-US$ 43.1 billion; 2019-US$ 45.8 billion; 2020-US$ 46.5 billion; 2021-US$ 47.5 billion; 2022-US$ 47.7 billion.
III Short-Term External Debt Stocks:
2010-US$ 2.4 billion; 2018-US$ 8.1 billion; 2019-US$ 8.4 billion; 2020-US$ 8.3 billion; 2022-US$ 8.5 billion.
IV Principal Repayment Long Term:
2010-US$ 727 million; 2018-US$ 5.5 billion; 2019-US$ 4.4 billion; 2020-US$ 3.3 billion; 2021-US$ 3.0 billion; 2022-US$ 2.0 billion.
V Interest Payments Long Term:
2010-US$ 616 million; 2018-US$ 1.5 billion; 2019-US$ 1.5 billion; 2020-US$ 1.5 billion; 2021-US$ 1.5 billion; 2022-US$ 780 million.
VI Use of IMF Credit and SDR Allocations:
2010-US% 1.9 billion; 2018-US$ 1.5 billion; 2019-US$ 1.8 billion; 2020-1.9 billion; 2021-US$ 2.5 billion; 2022-US$ 2.3 billion.
Glossary
External Debt Stocks comprise public and publicly guaranteed long-term external debt, private nonguaranteed long-term external debt, use of International Monetary Fund credit and special drawing rights allocation, and short-term external debt.
Gross National Income is the sum of value added by all resident producers, plus any prod[1]uct taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output, plus net receipts of primary income compensation of employees and property income from abroad. Yearly average exchange rates are used to convert gross national income from local currency to US dollars.
Long-Term External Debt is debt that has an original or extended maturity of more than one year and that is owed to non-residents by residents of an economy and is repayable in currency, goods, or services.
Short-Term External Debt has an original maturity of one year or less. Available data permit no distinctions among public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed short-term external debt
SDR Allocations are reserve-related liabilities, distributed to member countries in proportion to their quota shares at the International Monetary Fund. The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) allocations are included in the gross external debt position and classified as long-term, special drawing right.