Sri Lanka has received the first tranche of $330 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $3 billion bailout package approved on Monday.
The IMF funds are expected to attract additional support of $3.75 billion from other lenders, which will help the country restructure a substantial part of its $84 billion public debt.
Sri Lankan officials will begin talks with bondholders and bilateral creditors in April and will follow a fully transparent process.
The IMF funds can also be used for government spending, unlike previous bailouts that were only used to bolster foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka aims to reduce inflation to a single digit by mid-2023 and later to 4%-6%.
