COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's parliament on Thursday approved a new law to improve the independence of the country's central bank as part of reforms linked to a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout package, the parliament's deputy speaker said.

The legislation was approved after multiple amendments and a third reading without a vote in the 225-member parliament, the deputy speaker added.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Shivam Patel)