Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Wednesday that unless a new government is appointed within two days to restore political stability, the country’s economy will “collapse beyond redemption”.
“If the government is not formed in the next two days, the economy will collapse completely and no one will be able to save it,” Weerasinghe said. He also threatened to step down if political stability was not restored at the earliest.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruling party is set to support opposition leader Sajith Premadasa as prime minister, a news report said. Premadasa has, in the past, ruled out the possibility of working under Rajapaksa.
Here are ten big updates on the Sri Lankan crisis
- Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said he had acted in April with the hope that political stability would be established within two weeks. Very little has been achieved in the last month. He warned that the island nation’s deep economic problems could get worse if no solution was found to end the current political crisis, adding that he did not want to continue if political stability was not achieved.
- A news report quoted party general secretary Dayasiri Jayasekhar as saying that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, a member of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition, is ready to support opposition leader Sajith Premadasa as prime minister.
- Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission has summoned Army Chief General Shavendra Silva and Inspector General of Police CD Wickramaratne to explain why they failed to stop the violence that broke out on Monday, a media report said.
- Colombo Stock Exchange today decided to keep the equity markets closed for the second day as banks will remain closed for customers even though real-time gross settlement and inter-bank payment system will remain operational.
- Earlier today, Sri Lanka’s Joint Chambers, comprising key industry bodies including the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka, requested President Rajapaksa to appoint a new interim prime minister acceptable to all political parties. After that, he must “respect the voice of the public and resign immediately.”
- President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took to Twitter for the third time in three days to appeal for peace and call for unity after violent clashes between government supporters and protesters earlier this week.
- Masahiro Nozaki, the IMF’s head for Sri Lanka, said today that the mission is closely following developments in the island nation and is “concerned about rising social tensions and violence.” Technical level discussions have begun between IMF officials and Sri Lankan officials, to continue the way forward. The new Sri Lankan government is ready for policy discussions once it is formed, Nozaki said.
- Sri Lanka extended its nationwide curfew by a day till 7 am on Thursday, as the country grapples with violent protests against the mismanagement of government finances, resulting in shortages of food and fuel. “No person shall be on any public road, railway, public park, public recreation ground or other public ground or beach,” the government said in the official gazette.
- Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down on Monday, as the country grapples with intense civil strife amid a dire economic crisis. Hours later, an angry mob torched his family’s house.
- Ruling party legislator Amarakirthi Athukorla on Monday shot two people – killing a 27-year-old man and then taking his own life after being surrounded by a crowd of anti-government protesters outside Colombo, police said.