 "Japan, France and India to launch platform to coordinate Sri Lanka debt")
By Dan Burns and Leika Kihara
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan, France and India will announce a new platform for creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka's debt, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday, adding it would be "very nice" if China were to join the effort.
As chair of this year's Group of Seven (G7) meeting, Japan has put efforts to address debt vulnerabilities of middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka as among priorities for debate.
The announcement of the new platform, initiated by Japan, France and G20 chair India, will be made on Thursday, Suzuki said in a news conference after the G7 finance leaders' meeting.
The platform will likely consist of a series of meetings of the creditor nations to discuss the debt.
"We altogether made a great effort to set up the framework," Suzuki said. "I hope many countries will participate. It will be very nice if China will join," Suzuki said.
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Sri Lanka last month secured a $2.9 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its suffocating debt burden and its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which has disrupted imports of essentials from fuel to medicine and caused political turmoil.
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chris Reese and Christian Schmollinger)