LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's sovereign dollar

bonds rallied as much as 1.5 cents on Thursday after the

president said the country expected to reach a draft

restructuring deal before Saturday's election.

The 2030 maturity gained the most, rising by 1.5 cents to

bid at 53.15 cents, Tradeweb data showed.

On Wednesday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said

authorities would meet bondholders today and had the "ability to

complete this process and make the announcement before 21

September (election day)."

The bonds had softened in recent weeks from the 58.84

bidding level hit in July, on the back of investor concerns that

the bond restructuring was less certain in light of the

extremely tight presidential race.