Sri Lanka resumes bailout discussions with IMF, finance ministry says

FILE PHOTO: Drivers push auto rickshaws in a line to buy petrol from a fuel station, amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has resumed technical discussions with the International Monetary Fund on a potential bailout after a new government took office, the finance ministry said on Friday.

Discussions with the multilateral lender started in April under former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan government hopes to secure an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) - which would be conditional on making economic reforms - to help battle the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.