Ali Sabry will take over from Basil Rajapaksa as the head of finance. Sabry is among the key decision makers, as the president prepares for a bailout from the IMF.
Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa accused the government of ‘depriving people of the right to live, to enjoy their economic, political, cultural, religious, civic and other freedoms’.
Lankan Education Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardena said the Cabinet Ministers handed over their resignations to PM Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Weekend curfew was imposed from Saturday to Monday to quell large-scale protests against govt amid an economic crisis. Opposition MPs claim govt is ‘cornered & helpless’.
The Rajapaksa government should have shelved some of the China-funded infrastructure projects, which were high on debt servicing and low on revenue earnings.
Sri Lanka is facing limited foreign reserves which has led to shortage in fuel, power & gas. The island nation has also sought for bilateral aid from countries including India.
The back-to-back visits by EAM S. Jaishankar is expected to strengthen India’s maritime security domain under the ‘SAGAR’ doctrine, in view of growing Chinese influence.
China has invested $1.4 billion in the strategically located project. But the Rajapaksa govt wants India to invest in the potential metropolis, which is Sri Lanka's first SEZ.
Last week, Sri Lanka started talks with International Monetary Fund for a potential aid package as its foreign exchange reserves shrink and it struggles to import basic goods.
In India, only 17% of public sector banks and 25% of private sector banks claimed to have an internal strategy for integrating climate risks into their risk management framework.
Economists say there are weaknesses in India’s GDP data. But statisticians claim the accusations are based on flawed understanding, saying while GDP has problems, the economists are looking in the wrong places.
Both the governments expressed their commitment to strengthening their maritime cooperation to strengthen the maritime safety and security framework in the region.
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