MUMBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is unlikely to relax foreign investment limits in government securities as the current level is appropriate, Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.

There are other avenues to attract foreign inflows such as corporate debt, equities and banks' overseas fund raising, the governor told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Thursday.

Sri Lanka has a limit of 12.5 percent of outstanding government securities for foreign investors, and this limit is already used up.

He also said the International Monetary Fund's comments on the island nation's economy were not harsh.

Last week, the IMF painted a grim picture of the Sri Lankan economy due to risks from high inflation, lower tax revenue and slow structural reforms, and projected the economy to grow slower than the central bank's forecast.

(Reporting by Shamik Paul; Editing by Jijo Jacob) Keywords: SRILANKA CBANK/

(neha.dasgupta@thomsonreuters.com)(+91-22-6180-7177)(Reuters Messaging: neha.dasgupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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