Sri Lanka on Saturday announced the completion of a $2.6 billion IMF bailout, but it was seeking fresh loans to support an economy emerging from decades of ethnic war. The International Monetary Fund on Friday released the final installment of the bailout agreed in July 2009; two months after Colombo defeated Tamil rebels in a major offensive to end the drawn-out conflict. The drawing down the final installment of the bailout package marked the longest engagement Sri Lanka has had with the IMF and the single largest facility from a multilateral institution, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said. “Sri Lankan authorities now look forward to the continued close engagement with the IMF and intend to discuss the possibility of financial support for its economic development agenda…” the bank said in a statement. It did not say how much Sri Lanka hoped to secure from the IMF by way of fresh loans, but finance ministry sources said Colombo was looking at more than $500 million as a first step.
