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Sri Lanka expects final approval from the International Monetary Fund for a $2.9 billion loan in the third or fourth week of this month, the president said on Tuesday, adding that new support from China means all funding requirements had been met.

The country of 22 million people is struggling with its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament there were signs the economy was improving but there was still insufficient foreign currency for all imports, making the IMF deal crucial so other creditors could also start releasing funds.

"Sri Lanka has completed all prior actions that were required by the IMF," Wickremesinghe said.

He said the Export-Import Bank of China had sent "a new letter" on Monday, and he and the central bank governor had sent a letter of intent to the IMF.

"As a result of this step and financing assurances from India and the Paris Club, we expect approval for the programme either in the third or fourth week of March," he said.

The country's international debt and currency roared higher on the news, with bonds adding nearly 3 cents in the dollar while the rupee jumped nearly 8% to a 10-month high.

It was not clear what new support China, the world's biggest sovereign creditor, extended to Sri Lanka on Monday. In January, the Export-Import Bank of China offered Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on its debt and said it would support its efforts to secure the IMF loan, which a Sri Lankan source said at the time was not enough to meet IMF conditions.

'A LOT OF POSITIVITY'

In total, Sri Lanka owed Chinese lenders $7.4 billion, or nearly a fifth of public external debt, by end-2022, calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative showed.

Sri Lanka's rupee hit a mid-rate of 325 on Tuesday, appreciating 12%, analysts said, against the central bank-set spot rate of 337.67. The appreciation was driven by better dollar inflows from tourism and remittances, positive sentiment over imminent approval of an IMF deal and a downturn in imports, analysts said.

"There is a lot of positivity around a possible IMF announcement and more dollar loans are expected with an approval of the bailout," said Udeeshan Jonas, chief strategist at equity research firm CAL Research.

"Also, speculators who were hoarding dollars have started to panic and convert with the rupee starting to appreciate."

Sri Lanka needs to repay about $6 billion on average each year until 2029 and will have to keep engaging with the IMF, Wickremesinghe said.

Countries in debt distress such as Zambia and Sri Lanka have faced unprecedented delays in securing IMF bailouts as China and Western economies have clashed over how to provide debt relief. Sri Lanka has been waiting for about 187 days to finalise a bailout after reaching a staff-level deal with the IMF.

This compares to a median of 55 days it took low- and middle-income countries over the past decade to go from preliminary deal to board sign-off, according to public data from more than 80 cases compiled by Reuters.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday that his country would continue to participate in the settlement of international debt problems in a constructive manner.

Responding to a question on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, Qin also said that China should be the last to be accused of causing debt traps in other countries and called on other parties to share the burden.

The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on nine people, including two Russian commanders involved in the war in Ukraine, and three organisations the bloc holds responsible for sexual violence and other violations of women's rights.

The move is the first time the EU has issued a sanctions package targeting perpetrators of sexual violence, using powers it established in 2020 to penalise human rights abusers.

The sanctions also target two policemen in Moscow, two Taliban officials, and others in Myanmar and South Sudan, according to an EU list seen by Reuters ahead of its official release, which also included Iran's Gharchak women's prison.

The 27-nation EU did not immediately name those blacklisted but their identities will be published in the bloc's official journal later in the day, on the eve of International Women's Day.

"By imposing these sanctions, we're sending a clear message to perpetrators that they won't get away with their crimes," said Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra.

"These horrific, inhuman acts have consequences. This is also a message to the victims: the EU will support you, wherever you are in the world."

The measures include a freeze on any assets that the targeted individuals and organisations hold in the EU and a ban on travel into the bloc. Companies in the EU are also forbidden from providing services to those under sanctions.

The list named the Russian commanders in Moscow's war against Ukraine as Nikolay Kuznetsov and Ramil Ibatullin. The two could not be immediately reached for comment.

It said Kuznetsov "was part of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and members of his unit systematically participated in acts of sexual violence and rape in Ukraine in March/April 2022".

Ibatullin led a division whose members "committed acts of sexual and gender-based violence against the Ukrainian civilian population", according to the EU document. (Reuters)

Nepal's top court will hear a petition on Thursday demanding the arrest of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and an investigation into his leadership during a decade-long civil war that killed thousands of people, court officials and petitioners said.

Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla commander, led rebels against Nepal's security forces during the conflict, which raged for 10 years until 2006 and killed about 17,000 people before a peace deal overseen by the United Nations put an end to hostilities.

The Himalayan nation is already in the midst of a political crisis since Dahal backed an opposition candidate as the country's president last month, prompting one of his allies in the communist-dominated ruling coalition to withdraw support.

Bimal Paudel, an official at the Supreme Court, said the petition seeking Dahal's arrest has been registered and the first hearing is scheduled on Thursday.

In a public gathering three years ago, Dahal - who still goes by his nom de guerre Prachanda - said he was ready to take responsibility "for 5,000 deaths" during the civil war, blaming the then state forces for the remaining fatalities.

In December, Dahal, 68, was appointed prime minister for a third time after joining the political mainstream under the peace deal.

Relatives of the victims of the conflict said in the petition: "Since the transcript of his objectionable expression accepting that he killed people, including our relatives, is available (on) the social media ... we demand that he be arrested and investigated".

A spokesperson for the prime minister declined to comment on the petition. On Sunday Dahal said there was a "conspiracy" against him.

The former rebels, including Dahal's ruling Maoist Centre party, have said that cases of abuse committed during the conflict must be settled by two transitional justice panels set up under the peace deal.

Nepal abolished its 239-year old monarchy after the peace deal turned the Hindu-majority county into a secular republic and created seven federal provinces. (Reuters)

Russia and six nations bordering Afghanistan have set up a club to discuss ways to achieve long-term peace in the war-torn nation, with diplomats at the inaugural meeting on Tuesday calling for a freeze on Afghan central bank assets to be lifted.

Special representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan convened in Tashkent and plan to meet regularly to discuss issues facing Afghanistan, Uzbekistan's foreign ministry said.

The group urged Western nations to lift the freeze on the Afghan central bank's assets, Uzbek special representative Ismatilla Ergashev said.

"The representatives of these countries emphasised that the return of the money of the Central Bank of Afghanistan should be used primarily to pay the salaries of... school teachers and doctors, and at the same time to support the part of the population which is in a difficult situation," he told a briefing.

"They also emphasised that nearly 25 million people in Afghanistan are starving and deprived of food."

The United States froze some $7 billion in central bank assets after the Afghan government was toppled by Taliban forces in 2021, with a further $2 billion frozen in European banks.

Washington has said that some of the funds would got to a foundation to benefit ordinary Afghans.

The United Nations last month said six million people in Afghanistan are at risk of famine and two thirds of the population are facing severe hunger and are in urgent need of aid. (Reuters)