The Lankan crisis: Forex reserves rise for first time in five months

Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange pile rose for the first time in five months, likely due to deferment of payments to India under an Asian Clearing Union, even as the nation scrambles for credit lines to ease shortages.

The stockpile rose to $1.92 billion at the end of May, from $1.81 billion the previous month, according to data released by the central bank. The figure includes a swap facility from the People’s Bank of China equivalent to about $1.5 billion, which remains largely unusable due to conditions. 

The island nation had requested China to lift conditions on the swap but is yet to