FinObservatory

Cross-border banking exposure / Sri Lanka

What the world’s banks lend to Sri Lanka

The funding view: cross-border claims of BIS-reporting banks on Sri Lanka, from the locational statistics (LBS, by lender residence), with the consolidated claims by bank nationality (CBS) alongside. BIS-reporting banks held $9.95B of cross-border claims on Sri Lanka in Q4 2025, up from $10M when the series begins in Q4 1977.

$9.95B
LBS cross-border claims
Q4 2025, all reporters
−$4.80B
Change since 2019
−32.5% vs Q4 2019
$3.58B
LBS liabilities to Sri Lanka
Q4 2025, banks’ funding from
$2.42B
CBS international claims
Q4 2025, nationality basis

Cross-border claims on Sri Lanka, Q4 1977Q4 2025

LBS cross-border claims of all reporting banks on Sri Lanka, in USD billions, quarterly. The GFC and COVID quarters are shaded. This is the residence view, where a claim counts by where the lending bank sits, so a claim on Sri Lanka booked from any reporting jurisdiction is included.

Hover for daily values

Source: BIS Locational Banking Statistics (WS_LBS_D_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: cross-border claims (measure C), all reporting countries (5A) vs Sri Lanka as counterparty, all instruments, all currencies, all counterparty sectors, quarterly, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. Values shown in USD billions; raw BIS unit is USD millions. Methodology

Consolidated claims by bank nationality

CBS international claims on Sri Lanka in Q4 2025, broken out by the nationality of the lending banks (where the parent is headquartered, worldwide-consolidated, immediate-counterparty basis). The top 5 reporting banking systems shown account for $1.75B of the $2.42B consolidated total. This is a different measure from the residence-based claims above and is not additive with them.

Bank nationalityInternational claims
GBR United Kingdom$1.10B
IND India$443M
ITA Italy$81M
FRA France$73M
JPN Japan$56M

Source: BIS Consolidated Banking Statistics (WS_CBS_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: international claims (measure I, domestic banks 4B, immediate-counterparty basis F), individual reporting banking system by nationality vs Sri Lanka as counterparty, latest quarter, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. CBS carries claims only; it has no liabilities measure by design. Methodology

Back to the cross-border overview, or Sri Lanka’s full financial profile on its country page. See the methodology for LBS versus CBS and the exact selections.