Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said a deal with the International Monetary Fund to help the debt-stricken nation has been delayed until September because of recent unrest, the Associated Press reported.
Wickremesinghe, in his first speech since he was elected by parliament, said on Saturday that even though he, when prime minister, had aimed to reach an agreement by early August, it has now been pushed back by a month, the report said.
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Wickremesinghe was appointed after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, under whom the discussions with IMF began in April, was ousted on July 13.
The finance ministry on Friday said Sri Lanka had resumed bailout discussions with IMF after the new government took office and talks were highly successful.
The country has $12 billion overseas debt with private creditors.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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