Sri Lanka shares hit 9-month high on nod for domestic debt restructuring plan

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares jumped 7.17% to a 9-month high on Tuesday after the country’s parliament approved a key domestic debt restructuring plan over the weekend, while inflation also cooled sharply.

The CSE All Share index settled up 6.71% at 10,076.64, in heavy volume.

On Saturday, the island nation’s parliament approved a plan that seeks to rework part of the country’s $42 billion domestic debt, a move that is part of the conditions for the International Monetary Fund’s $2.9 billion bailout package.

A day before that, data showed Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate sharply eased to 12% in June, from 25.2% in May.

LOLC Finance and LOLC Holdings were the top gainers on the CSE All Share index, both rising 14.8%.

Trading volume on the index rose to 333.6 million shares from 119.9 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end lower as consumer staples, communication services weigh

The equity market’s turnover rose to 7.29 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($23.82 million) from 2.27 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 889.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 7.03 billion rupees, the data showed.