Sri Lanka is to pay off a $251m (£188m) Iranian oil debt by sending the country millions of dollars worth of tea every month. The country will ship $5m of leaves to the coun-try every month to settle the debt, in what is be-lieved to be the first example of the beverage being used to settle a bill between governments.
Ramesh Pathirana, a government minister, said the payment method would circumvent sanctions imposed on Iran by the United Nations and United States because tea is deemed to be a foodstuff.
The unconventional payment method means no sanctioned banks will be involved, he added. —AFP
