President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled Sri Lanka , and in his absence appointing his prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president.This comes after massive protests by the countries citizens due to the hike of fuel and food prices causing inflation.
Mr Rajapaska has fled to Maldives accompanied by his wife ant two security officials. According to unnamed source he doesn’t intend to stay there he will later fly to a third country.
Sri Lanka’s government has more than $51bn in foreign debt, $6.5bn of which is owed to China.The International Monetary Fund has had talks with Sri lankas government about a possible $3bn loan.
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According to IMF the country will need a stable government in order to bring the country back to its toes,until a new one is put in place.Acting President Wickremesinghe said that the government will print money to pay employees’ salaries, but has warned this is likely to boost inflation and lead to further price hikes.
The government has blamed the COVID pandemic, which affected Sri Lanka’s tourist trade – one of its biggest foreign currency earners.It also says tourists were frightened off by a series of deadly bomb attacks in 2019.However, many experts blame economic mismanagement.