COLOMBO, March 22 Reuters Sri Lanka will kick off the next round of talks with creditors in the third week of April, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday, adding that the debtstricken nation has started to receive funds from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF has released the first tranche of about 330 million, part of a nearly 3 billion bailout approved by it on Monday, Wickremesinghe told parliament.

This will create opportunities for lowinterest credit, restore foreign investors39; confidence and lay the foundation for a strong new economy, he said.

The IMF bailout is expected to catalyse additional support to the tune of 3.75 billion from the likes of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other lenders. It also clears the way for Sri Lanka to restructure a substantial part of its 84 billion worth total public debt.

Sri Lankan officials will start the next round of talks with bondholders and bilateral creditors in the third week of April, Wickremesinghe said, adding that a fully transparent process will be followed.

Sri Lanka also aims to reduce inflation to a single digit by mid2023 and later to 46, Wickremesinghe said. The country39;s National Consumer Price Index rose an annual 53.6 in February.

This was the 17th IMF bailout for Sri Lanka and the third since the country39;s decadeslong civil war ended in 2009.

Economic mismanagement coupled with the impact of the COVID19 pandemic left Sri Lanka severely short of dollars for…