Sri Lanka, March 7 -- Sri Lanka and Japan signed agreements on Friday to restructure $2.5 billion worth of debt, completing two years of talks that will assist the island nation in getting back on its feet after a severe financial crisis.

The agreements will allow the two countries to restart projects, including an expansion of Sri Lanka's main airport, which were suspended after the island nation announced in April 2022 that it was defaulting on its foreign debt.

The crisis left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for fuel, medicine and cooking gas. But it has made a faster-than-expected recovery, aided by a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved the fourth tranche of its program last week.

"Sri Lanka'...