COLOMBO—Sri Lanka will begin the next round of talks with creditors in the third week of April, according to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who also stated that the debt-ridden country has begun to receive funds from the International Monetary Fund.

According to Wickremesinghe, the IMF has released the first tranche of approximately $330 million as part of a nearly $3 billion bailout approved by it on Monday.

"This will create opportunities for low-interest credit, restore foreign investors' confidence, and lay the foundation for a strong new economy," he said.

The IMF bailout is expected to spark $3.75 billion in additional support from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other lenders. It also paves the way for Sri Lanka to restructure a significant portion of its $84 billion total public debt.

Sri Lankan officials will begin the next round of talks with bondholders and bilateral creditors in the third week of April, according to Wickremesinghe, who added that the process will be completely transparent.

Wickremesinghe also stated that Sri Lanka aims to reduce inflation to a single digit by mid-2023, and then to 4%–6%. In February, the country's National Consumer Price Index (LKNCPI) increased by 53.6% year on year.

This was Sri Lanka's 17th IMF bailout and the third since the country's decades-long civil war ended in 2009.

Economic mismanagement, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic's impact, left Sri Lanka severely short of dollars for essential imports at the start of last year, tipping the island nation into its worst financial crisis in seven decades.

Unlike previous bailouts, which were primarily used to boost foreign exchange reserves, funds from the current program can also be used for government spending, according to Masahiro Nozaki, a senior IMF official.