Sri Lanka hopes to receive IMF bailout package by next week

The government has blamed the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa regime for the crisis

Sri Lanka hopes it will receive an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package by next week to aid its struggling economy, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Saturday.

"The good news is that it could be forthcoming next week," he said after talks with IMF representatives.

He said there will be more good news from Japan and China over budgetary support.

Sri Lanka is seeking $1-1.5 billion loan from IMF for its efforts to tide over the present economic woes.

Its foreign reserves have dwindled throughout 2016 while the rupee has depreciated. This has seriously strained the balance of payments while the tiny share market volumes have suffered nearly record lows.

The government has blamed the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa regime for funding loans to infrastructure projects, of the which many have yielded no income.