Sri Lanka news: Cricketing legends Sanath Jaya Surya and Kumara Sangakkara have joined protests against the Sri Lankan government over the economic crisis. The island nation’s parliament will meet on Tuesday for its first session since the state of emergency was declared. Here are the most recent developments.
With the economic turmoil in Sri Lanka, which isn’t slowing down, protests across the island nation continued Monday. Offering support to the protesters, Sri Lankan batting legend Sanath Jayasurya and former wicketkeeper great Kumara Sangakkara came out in protest against the government.
India has donated diesel and wheat to Sri Lanka help following the nation’s failure to run out of diesel last week, which led to an unprecedented power shortage. This is in addition to the credit line of USD 500 million to buy fuel, which India has offered earlier this year. However, it doesn’t seem to be an excellent solution to the nation’s severe financial crisis.
Here is the most recent news:
- The Opposition parties in Sri Lanka rebuffed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s offer to be a part of the unity government, calling it a “sham” after he fired his brother and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from his post. Opposition parties and even some of Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition resisted the idea of a united government and set the foundation for a test of power in the parliament.
- On Sunday, the 26 Cabinet Ministers handed in resignation letters following the protests of thousands of people who resisted a nationwide curfew and emergency state and joined protests on the streets in protest of the government.
- Many of the most experienced cricketers, such as Kumara Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, have protested against the Sri Lanka government.
- The Sri Lankan parliament is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, the first day of its session, following the declaration of a state of emergency. It was declared as the nation is battling protests and growing demands for the president’s resignation over an intensifying economic crisis.
- The emergency declaration by Sri Lanka is due to expire on the 14th of next week unless a parliamentary vote approves it.
The country of 22 million people, located just off the southern tip of India, is also struggling with rising inflation since the government slashed the value of its currency in the last month, ahead of discussions with the International Monetary Fund for a loan program. ON TUESDAY, the IMF has said that it is “closely monitoring” Sri Lanka at present.
Global debts for Sri Lanka have mounted to impossible levels. The country is currently owed seven billion USD. One of its debts is a USD 1 billion sovereign bond, which matures in July. Sri Lanka’s debt to the public sector has increased (in the projection) from 94 percent of its gross domestic production (GDP) in 2019 up to 119 percent of its GDP in 2021. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared in March.
