The resignation of Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva shook Sri Lanka’s cabinet on Wednesday. Another minister demanded Prime Minister Ranil Vikram Singhe’s step down as finance minister, alleging that he has stalled all projects that could be critical to tide over the worst economic crisis. Let us tell you that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Prime Minister as well as the Finance Minister of Sri Lanka.
Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister de Silva resigned in Parliament on Tuesday following an allegation made by main opposition Samagi Jana Balvegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premdas. His ministry was accused of taking bribes from a Japanese company.
De Silva said in a letter addressed to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he has not been directly accused of soliciting bribes but is resigning to allow a fair investigation because the allegations pertain to his ministry. According to media reports, the Japanese company is busy expanding the Bandaranaike International Airport here.
Wickremesinghe was asked to resign from the post of Finance Minister:
Meanwhile, newly-appointed Investment Promotion Minister Dhammika Perera, addressing a gathering here, demanded that Wickremesinghe should resign as the finance minister.
Former business leader Perera alleged that Wickremesinghe is blocking the flow of dollars into the country and has no cash flow plan to resolve the foreign exchange crisis. Wickremesinghe refused to answer the opposition in Parliament on Perera’s statement.
Sri Lanka has a total foreign debt of 51 billion US dollars:
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 and needs at least US$ 4 billion to cover the huge shortfall in foreign exchange reserves. The total external debt on Sri Lanka is US$51 billion.
President Rajapaksa spoke to Putin on the phone:
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Wednesday that he had “very fruitful” talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to negotiate a credit line to buy subsidized oil from Moscow to “defeat the worst economic challenges”. ” To be.
During their talks, Rajapaksa also urged Putin to resume the services of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot in the country.
President Rajapaksa said in a tweet that he has requested an offer of credit to Sri Lanka to import fuel to overcome the current economic challenges.
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source https://spotlight7.com/world/sri-lanka-crisis-political-crisis-deepens-in-sri-lanka-president-rajapaksa-talks-to-putin/
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