Sri Lankan shares closed lower for a second straight session on Wednesday, dragged by losses in energy stocks.

The CSE All-Share index closed 0.81% lower at 9527.05.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is allowing Sri Lanka to utilise funds from its latest bailout for fiscal support, unlike previous loans that could only be used to ease balance of payments crises, central bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka has received the first tranche of about $330 million of an IMF bailout programme, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka will kick off the next round of talks with creditors in the third week of April, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan shares end higher on financials, consumer staples boost

“This will create opportunities for low-interest credit, restore foreign investors’ confidence and lay the foundation for a strong new economy,” he said.

Energy company Lanka IOC and Carson Cumberbatch were the top drags on the index, falling 4.2% and 3.6% respectively, according to Refinitiv data.

The trading volume for the CSE All-Share index fell to about 70 million shares from 78.9 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.51 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.73 million) from 1.48 billion rupees in the previous session, according to the exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing stocks worth 58.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 1.49 billion rupees worth of shares, the data showed.