Sri Lankan shares closed higher for a sixth straight session on Thursday, helped by gains in industrials stocks.

The CSE All-Share index rose 0.58% to 9,703.48.

Sri Lanka aims to announce a debt-restructuring strategy in April and step up talks with commercial creditors ahead of an International Monetary Fund review of a bailout package in six months, the nation’s central bank governor told Reuters.

The crisis-hit island has secured financing assurances from all its major bilateral creditors, including India and China, setting the stage for the IMF to give its final approval for a $2.9 billion, four-year bailout package on March 20, the multilateral lender said on Tuesday.

The bailout is the culmination of months of negotiations as Sri Lanka looks to emerge from its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

Sri Lankan shares end higher in anticipation of $2.9bn IMF loan

Trading volume fell to 97.5 million shares from 108.1 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 2.49 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($8.03 million), compared with 3.27 billion Sri Lankan rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in equities, purchasing stocks worth 268.5 million Sri Lankan rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 2.25 billion Sri Lankan rupees, data showed.