NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa reaffirmed on Tuesday that he will not step down from his post.
He said this while holding a discussion with ministers and members of provincial councils at Temple Trees (the PM’s official residence).
Thereafter, the Provincial Councillors’ Forum unanimously passed a resolution at the discussion that the Prime Minister and the government do not require to step down.
Members of the Forum stressed that it was essential for Prime Minister Rajapaksa to continue in his post to resolve the current economic crisis in the country.
Meanwhile, the public is unstoppable with its demand seeking the resignation of the PM. They have set up a protest site in front of Temple Trees named ‘MainaGoGama’ in addition to ‘GotaGoGama’ (President Gotabaya Rajapaksa).
Protests have been continuing since April 9, as the government ran out of money for imports of essentials and prices have skyrocketed. The situation is further aggravated by shortages in fuel, medicines and power supply.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the island nation needs to tighten its monetary policy, raise tax and adopt flexible exchange rates to address its debt crisis.
The country of 22 million people has requested loans from the IMF as it struggles to pay for imports amid crushing debt and a sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves that has fueled soaring inflation.
Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry was in Washington last week to talk to the IMF, the World Bank, India and others about financing help for his country, which has suspended payments on portions of its $51 billion in external debt. India had urged the IMF to extend support.
On its part, India has already extended help with a line of credit agreement with Sri Lanka to the tune of $2.5 billion which has enabled them to buy fuel and other essentials. Sri Lanka needs an additional $3 billion to survive.