Sri Lanka exchange halts again after 13% plunge

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's stock exchange halted again Monday after a nearly 13 percent plunge, derailing the bourse's tentative reopening after a twoweek break aimed at forestalling a market collapse.

The island nation is grappling with its worst economic downturn since independence in 1948, with months of regular blackouts and acute shortages of food and fuel. Equities have shed nearly 40pc of their value since January, with the local currency falling by a similar amount against the greenback in the past month.

Monday was the first morning of trade on the Colombo bourse since a weeklong Sri Lankan New Year holiday and a subsequent five-day trading halt after the government hiked interest rates and defaulted on its $51b foreign debt. The local S&P index fell seven percent in the opening minute of trade, more than the five percent needed to trigger an automatic halfhour halt. Shares continued their rapid slide after a brief resumption, prompting the market to declare a halt to trading for the rest of the day.

Sri Lankan officials were in Washington last week to negotiate with the IMF for a bailout, but official sources said there was no immediate prospect of emergency funding from the lender. Colombo is now banking on further bilateral help from India, China and Japan to help keep the country afloat, a finance ministry.

Sri Lanka's economic collapse began to be felt after the coronavirus pandemic torpedoed vital revenue from tourism, remittances, leaving the country unable to finance essential imports.