Sri Lanka's economy will grow 5.5 percent in 2010

COLOMBO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's economy will grow 5.5 percent in 2010 due to improving domestic demand and potential export growth after the 25-year war ended in 2009 and as global recovery takes hold, the IMF said on Wednesday.

However, the International Monetary Fund said there were concerns about the country's fiscal deficit which needed to be addressed.

The $40 billion economy, which was hit by a balance of payment crisis early last year, has already received two tranches of a $2.6 billion IMF loan and the third is due soon.

"We continue to see growth around 5.5 percent in 2010," Koshy Mathai, the IMF director for Sri Lanka, told Reuters in an interview. "The global environment is still not very strong as recovery is slow. On that basis 5.5 percent is a good number."

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