Sri Lanka which is experiencing its worst economic downturn since its 1948 independence has declared default and is now looking for emergency IMF bailout.
After crisis-hit Sri Lanka raised interest rates and declared a default on its external debt over the traditional New Year holiday, the Colombo Stock Exchange declared a five-day trading suspension on Saturday.
The market was scheduled to reopen on Monday after being suspended for the entire week, but the CSE announced that it will be closed from Monday to Friday owing to the "present situation in the country."
The decision comes before Sri Lanka's scheduled talks with the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Monday to discuss a bailout, since the country has run out of foreign money to cover even basic imports.
After the central bank nearly doubled its benchmark interest rate to 14.5 percent following the closing on April 8, the last trading day before the holiday, brokers expected shares to be battered...