Given the Easter holidays (applicable in Washington) and the Sinhala and Tamil New Year here, the deal between the Sri Lanka government and the IMF now under negotiation is not expected to be finalized before the end of April, well informed sources said yesterday.

Senior officials were tight-lipped about the progress and terms of the negotiations as both sides had agreed to maintain ``radio silence’’ on the talks.

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, accompanied by Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, MP, Senior Advisor to the President, spent one day in Washington meeting with top IMF and World Bank officials and returned to Colombo early last week.

While no revelations of the content of the discussions was forthcoming, senior officials said that whatever conditions that apply will be good for the country and senior bank and fund officials in Washington were reasonable.

Colombo’s position has been that any agreement will be within the country’s own 10-year horizon.