COLOMBO Sri Lanka will save US$3 billion in debt write-offs from commercial creditors once a provisional deal to restructure its debt with international bondholders is completed, the president said on Friday.

Sri Lanka said on Wednesday that it has secured a deal to move forward on restructuring about US$12.5 billion of international bonds, a major step in its fragile recovery from a severe financial crisis.

Late last month, the island nation, which has total external debt of US$37 billion, also inked an agreement with creditor nations, including Japan, India and China, to restructure about US$10 billion in bilateral debt.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka will also save US$5 billion in interest owed to creditor nations, as part of its debt restructuring process.

  - Reuters