Sri Lanka Central Bank is unlikely to buy more gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) right now as the country has already reached its required reserve level, Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.

The IMF has said it would soon begin sales of 191.3 tonnes of gold remaining in its plan to raise new resources for lending, with traders saying it may seek buyers among Asian central banks.

"Unlikely right now," Governor Cabraal told Reuters when asked whether Sri Lankan Central Bank is considering purchase of gold from the IMF.

"We have reached the certain level we wanted to reach. I think that is comfortable for us. But we will be watching the situation, how best we want to diversify our reserves."

According to Central Bank data, Sri Lanka's reserves are now at over $5 billion including gold.

The IMF sold 10 tons of gold to the Central Bank last November.
The IMF announced last year it would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock, to diversify its sources of income and increase low-cost lending to poor nations.

Until now, the gold has only been made available to central banks on a first-come-first-serve basis. So far, India -- the world's biggest consumer of gold -- Mauritius and Sri Lanka have purchased a total of 212 tonnes of gold from the IMF.