NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Suriname said on Wednesday it will ask its creditors for an extension of the payment deferral on its 2023 and 2026 notes, according to a government statement. An agreement reached with creditors last year gave the country until March 24 to secure a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund to buy it extra time to make its payments. “There is a probability that the staff-level agreement will not be reached prior to March 24, 2021, in which case the Republic will work towards reaching a staff-level agreement in the following weeks,” the government said. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Karin Strohecker)