NewsSri Lanka on Wednesday raised nearly a billion dollars through a domestic bond auction after the IMF asked the government to build its foreign reserves amid increased capital outflows. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said the offer of $830 million was over subscribed by over one and a half times and it eventually accepted bids up to $973.25 million. The bank raised the dollar-denominated bonds through local financial institutions as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the country's foreign reserves were “below comfortable levels”. Last June, the government received a $1.5 billion bailout from the IMF after facing a balance of payments crisis. Earlier this month, the IMF said Sri Lanka's current account remained stable, but the financial account weakened with the resumption of capital outflows.

Source: Sunday Times March 15, 2017 14:48 UTC