COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will start official talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month, a cabinet spokesman said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to stave off the island nation's worst economic crisis in years.

Spokesman Ramesh Pathirana said the cabinet had given Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa permission to formulate proposals to present to the IMF.

"Sri Lanka will begin formal talks with the IMF next month," he told reporters.

Sri Lanka to start talks with IMF as economic crisis worsens

A senior IMF official, who already met with Rajapaksa, will hold talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday, Pathirana said.