IMF delegation to visit crisis-hit Sri Lanka this month for talks

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will visit Sri Lanka on June 20 for talks as the country looks for a loan program from the lender to deal with its worst economic crisis in seven decades, the prime minister's office said on Friday.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe "was hopeful that a staff-level agreement would be reached by the end of the month," his office said in a statement.

The island nation of 22 million people is grappling with shortages of essentials, including fuel, cooking gas and medicines, after it ran out of foreign currency for even basic imports.