Sri Lanka protestors, who stormed the presidential palace in Colombo on Saturday, held a mock International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussion at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house.
Sri Lanka: Protestors hold mock IMF discussion at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house (Screengrab)
Sri Lanka protestors, who stormed the presidential palace in Colombo on Saturday, held a mock International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussion at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house.
Mock IMF discussion at President’s house by Sri Lankan protesters pic.twitter.com/CXykNBInQf
— NewsWire (@NewsWireLK) July 10, 2022
Sri Lankans roamed through the ransacked presidential palace on Sunday, a day after protesters stormed the building and forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee. Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa whereabouts are unknown.
THE CRISIS
Rajapaksa appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in the hope that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to resuscitate a collapsed economy. But people’s patience wore thin as shortages of fuel, medicine and cooking gas only increased and oil reserves ran dry. Authorities have also temporarily shuttered schools.
The protesters also torched the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe even after he offered to resign.
The country is relying on aid from India and other nations as leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund. Wickremesinghe said recently that negotiations with the IMF were complex because Sri Lanka was now a bankrupt state.
Sri Lanka announced in April that it was suspending repayment of foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to $51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027.
— ENDS —