COLOMBO (Reuters) — Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on Wednesday that talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package would restart in August, as the country wrestles with its worst economic crisis in decades.
“We are confident of successfully completing discussions,” Wickremesinghe said in a speech, in which he also called on lawmakers to come together to form an all-party government.
Wickremesinghe took office last month after his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled the country and then quit following mass protests over his mishandling of the economy.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been elected as the eighth president under the Sri Lankan Constitution, speaks to media as he leaves a Buddhist temple, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 20, 2022.
