In Sri Lanka, the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe has shared the justification for questions raised on declaring 30th of June as an extended bank holiday. He said that the island nation is working on domestic debt optimisation which is a sensitive matter. The purpose of this holiday is to provide sufficient time for the implementation of the domestic debt optimization strategy.<br />''<br />''In a special statement, Dr. Weerasinghe assured the public that bank deposits would not be affected and that interest rates would remain unchanged. The decision to declare a bank holiday on June 30 is aimed at allowing ample time for the necessary processes associated with the debt optimization strategy. These include the announcement of the strategy, obtaining approval from the Cabinet of Ministers, parliamentary committee discussions, and debates in the parliament.<br />''<br />''Dr. Weerasinghe stressed that these processes require at least four days to ensure transparency and to prevent any sensitive market information from being compromised. Despite the bank holiday, Dr. Weerasinghe clarified that various banking activities, such as internet banking, ATM withdrawals, and fund transfers, can still be conducted as usual, regardless of whether the physical banks are open or not.<br />''<br />''Sri Lanka had decided to suspend servicing its foreign debt last year, to combat a devastating economic meltdown which was the country's worst ever since Independence. The island nation subsequently entered an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and secured a nearly $3 billion-dollar package earlier in March this year. As part of the agreement it has to restructure both its foreign and domestic debt. The finest debt is estimated at 42 billon USD as of March 2023.<br />