'Lanka to present debt restructuring programme to IMF by August'

Colombo: Sri Lanka will present a debt restructuring programme to the IMF by August to secure a bailout package, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Tuesday, but acknowledged that negotiations with the global lender were "more difficult and complicated" than in the past as the country is now "bankrupt." Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948, and needs to obtain at least USD 4 billion to tide over the acute shortage in foreign exchange reserves.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team visited Colombo on June 20 to continue discussions on an economic programme that could be supported by an IMF lending arrangement.

The IMF later said it has concluded constructive and productive discussions with Sri Lankan authorities, but warned that the crisis-ridden island nation needs to do more on

debt restructuring.