COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka was locked in late talks with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, stoking hopes for a bailout deal less than 24 hours after the crisis-hit South Asian country announced an interim budget.
An IMF team visiting the bankrupt nation had been due to wrap up its mission on Wednesday, but senior officials announced that they were staying an extra day "because discussions are still ongoing." This came as Colombo buzzed over anonymously sourced reports that a staff-level agreement had been secured.
