Sri Lanka repaid its debt to Iran with tea.
Sri Lanka, facing severe economic and financial constraints, announced that it has transferred $20 million worth of tea to Iran as part of repaying its oil debt to the country.
Sri Lanka has a total oil debt of $251 million to Iran.
The office of Dinesh Gunawardena, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, announced on Thursday, February 2nd, after a meeting with Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, that $20 million worth of tea has been exported to Iran in accordance with the existing agreement.
The tea-for-oil exchange agreement between Iran and Sri Lanka was signed in December 2021, but the transfer of tea to Iran was delayed due to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
This economic crisis led to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former President of Sri Lanka, stepping down from office in July 2022.
Iran, facing severe economic sanctions, is trying to utilize its revenue from oil for other purposes through commodity exchange.