Sri Lankan shares extended a rally to a fifth straight session on Monday on gains in financial stocks.

At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index rose 0.54% to 9,366.39. The index climbed nearly 6% last week.

Last week, the tourism-dependent nation reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan of about $2.9 billion subject to certain conditions.

The nation of 22 million is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, as it struggles with soaring inflation, economic contraction and a severe shortage of essential items caused by a record slump in foreign reserves.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said on Monday a constitutional amendment bill trimming presidential powers is expected to become law in a couple of weeks.

Sri Lankan shares post weekly gain as financials jump

On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 203.4 million shares from 144.6 million shares in the previous session.

LOLC Finance and LOLC Development Finance were the top boosts to the index, advancing 14.6% and 25%, respectively.

The equity market turnover was at 4.14 billion rupees ($11.66 million), compared with 4.21 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing about 709.1 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 4.07 billion rupees worth of shares, data showed.