Colombo: The office of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has announced that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will take over the additional charge of Finance Minister. It is hoped that Vikramasinghe, an experienced politician, will be able to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the country recover from a severe financial crisis. Negotiations with the IMF are ongoing. He said the interim budget would be presented within six weeks and the government would cut spending and use it to alleviate the suffering of the people.
This is the biggest crisis Sri Lanka has faced since independence. Inflation is approaching 40 per cent. The shortage is exacerbated by the lack of foreign exchange to import medicine, fuel and other essentials. The tourism sector, a major source of income, collapsed during the Kovid crisis. The foreign debt had to be repaid.
Vikramasinghe, who has good relations with neighboring India and China, had experience negotiating with the IMF in 2016 when he was prime minister. Vikramasinghe, who does not have a majority in Parliament, can only take drastic action if he gets the full support of all the opposition parties.
English Summary: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe takes on crucial finance ministry portfolio