By Jorgelina do Rosario

LONDON (Reuters) – Ashmore Group Plc and Blackrock Asset Managers (NYSE:) Inc. Sources said that they are the largest holders of Sri Lankan international bonds and form part of an advisory group. This is as the markets get ready for possible debt restructuring.

According to Reuters, the bondholder group holds over 30% of foreign sovereign bonds. This has not been officially announced.

The source said that although members are mostly real-money investors at the moment, they plan to grow the group and add secondary market funds.

BlackRock, Ashmore and others did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

This would be the nation’s first attempt at restructuring its debt. The island is facing its most severe economic crisis for decades. With a $2.3 billion foreign currency reserve, the country has a $1 Billion bond due to mature on July 25, 2008.

It has approximately $12 billion in outstanding international debt.

This country is struggling to pay critical imports, including food and fuel.

Last month, Sri Lanka declared that it will seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund to address its most severe financial crisis since years. On Wednesday, Moody’s Rating Agency (NYSE:) stated that prolonged political uncertainty might delay discussions about other financing.

A government minister stated Wednesday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (who has been governing the country with his family since 2019) will not step down despite street protests and demonstrations.

Rajapaksa ended the state of emergency on Tuesday night after many lawmakers left the coalition that was ruling. This leaves his government as a minority within parliament.

Sri Lanka’s sovereign-dollar bonds fell by more than 3 cents to the dollar. Tradeweb data shows that the 2027 bond fell 3.44c to trade at deeply troubled levels, less than 40cs per dollar.