China reaches debt agreement with Sri Lanka, surprising IMF.

In an unexpected development in the region, China secured a tentative debt agreement with Sri Lanka, outpacing concurrent negotiations that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors were conducting with the South Asian nation.

On Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry revealed that the Export-Import Bank of China had reached a preliminary agreement with Sri Lanka to address its debt issues, although specifics of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the IMF, along with creditors such as Japan, the United States, and India, was preparing to convene discussions in Morocco this week regarding a debt restructuring plan for Sri Lanka. Notably, these discussions were set to exclude China's participation.

Sri Lanka's central bank Governor, Nandalal Weerasinghe, and Junior Finance Minister, Shehan Semasinghe, are presently in Marrakech for the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, actively working to secure an agreement with creditors and holders of the country's foreign bonds.

Peter Breuer, the senior mission chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, expressed awareness of ongoing discussions with creditors but indicated that the IMF had not received any formal communication about specific agreements. He emphasized that the IMF would need to thoroughly assess the entirety of the agreement to ensure they align with IMF debt targets.

An anonymous official from one of the creditor nations said that...