BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday amid hopes that a debt deal with creditors could help the island nation clear an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout review.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.77% at 10,593.90.

Sri Lanka’s pact with creditor nations to restructure its debt prepares the way for the IMF to consider clearing the first review of a bailout next month, the global lender said on Thursday.

Separately, data released after market hours showed Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate accelerated to 3.4% in November from 1.5% in the previous month.

John Keells Holdings and LOLC Holdings were the top gainers on the CSE, rising 3.08% and 1.34%, respectively.

Sri Lanka shares mark best day in three weeks after debt restructuring deal

Trading volume on the index rose to 57.8 million shares from 36.4 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.91 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.8 million) from 735.6 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 720.9 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 1.57 billion rupees, the data showed.