Colombo, April 20 : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said discussions with Sri Lanka on a potential IMF loan program are at an early stage and any deal would require “adequate assurances” from the country that its’s debts can be put on a sustainable path, Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday. The IMFs Sri Lanka Mission Chief Masahiro Nozaki said that IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva discussed lending options and policy plans with a Sri Lankan delegation on Tuesday. Nozaki said that “Any IMF-supported program should be designed in such a way that it helps to resolve Sri Lanka’s acute balance of payments problems and helps puts the economy back on a sustainable growth path as early as possible”. Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister has formally asked the IMF for a Rapid Financing Instrument loan for countries needing urgent balance-of-payments support. Nozaki noted that IMF had determined last month in an annual economic review that Sri Lanka’s public debt was unsustainable, and the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability prior to any IMF lending, including the emergency Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). Such restoration of debt sustainability typically requires a restructuring or reprofiling of public debts, which in Sri Lanka’s case would require cooperation from China, one of its largest bilateral creditors. This statement comes after the ongoing protests in response to the shortages of fuel and other essentials turned deadly on Tuesday leading to firing by the police which led to the death of one person, the first in the current protests. ACL0919