Sri Lanka’s new president took office with a mandate to bring relief to citizens still burdened by the remnants of the country’s worst-ever economic crisis. Now comes the hard part: Getting the lenders to play along.

Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Wednesday that he plans to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) immediately to take forward the country's $2.9 billion bailout programme.

Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that he will soon resume discussions with the International Monetary Fund and foreign creditors to plot a way out of the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.