Colombo: Amid the ongoing anti-government protests in the country following the economic and political crisis, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a new cabinet of 17 ministers.
According to reports, the swearing-in of the ministers is likely to take place today.
Recently, the entire the Sri Lankan cabinet had resigned due to massive protests.
Sri Lanka was in a deep economic crisis when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, reducing foreign-worker remittances and crippling the lucrative tourism sector — one of the main sources of dollars for the economy.
Last week, the government announced a sovereign default on its huge foreign debt and the Colombo Stock Exchange announced trading would be halted for five days from Monday amid fears of a market collapse.
The government imposed a broad import ban in March 2020 to save foreign currency. It is now facing record inflation.
The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of the prime minister and the president.
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