IMF hopes to soon resume Sri Lanka high level discussions -spokesman

The International Monetary Fund is still in contact with officials at technical levels within the Sri Lankan government and hopes to be able to resume discussions with higher-level officials, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday.

The International Monetary Fund is still in contact with officials at technical levels within the Sri Lankan government and hopes to be able to resume discussions with higher-level officials, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday. "We hope for a resolution of the current situation that would allow for our resumption of a dialogue on an IMF supported program," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a scheduled press briefing.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday to escape a popular uprising over his family's role in a crippling economic crisis, and was last in Singapore from where he sent a resignation letter. Rice said the IMF still has technical counterparties in the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, and hopes to be able to have high-level discussions with the authorities to begin discussions on a program "as soon as possible."

He said any new loan program for Sri Lanka would require adequate assurances on debt sustainability.