Sri Lankan shares scale fresh peaks amid sovereign debt repayment

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares closed at an all-time high on Tuesday on the back of gains in energy and consumer stocks, as the country paid a $500 million international sovereign bond.

* At the closing bell, the CSE All-Share index was up 0.89% at 13,457.20. The index had gained as much as 1.91% in the session.

* Conglomerates Expolanka Holdings Plc and Vallibel One Plc were the top boosts to the index, closing 2.6% and 10.4% higher, respectively.

* Sri Lanka's central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said in a tweet that the country has paid a $500 million international sovereign bond that matured on Tuesday.

* The Indian High Commission in Colombo said India has offered a new $500 million credit line to Sri Lanka to fund its fuel purchases.

* Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the country would introduce new laws to attract investments over next 3 years while policies to develop exports, tourism and remittances will be fast-tracked.

* Rajapaksa also said a debilitating shortage of forex was inevitable in nation unless expenditure was managed well. In the rest of 2022, Sri Lanka needs to repay debt worth $4 billion, with the next tranche of a $1-billion international sovereign bond maturing in July.

* A Reuters poll of 13 economists has predicted that Sri Lanka's cenbank may raise interest rates at its first policy announcement due on Thursday.

* Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing shares worth 198.1 million rupees, exchange data https://bit.ly/3JYyn5s showed.

* The equity market's turnover was 7.11 billion rupees ($35.20 million).

* Trading volume inched up to 256.7 million shares, from 252.6 million shares in the previous session.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 202.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)