Sri Lanka

Colombo, May 24 (PTI) The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved seeking a 500 million dollar loan from the Exim Bank of India for the purchase of petroleum products amid a severe foreign exchange crisis in the island nation.

Sri Lanka has been mulling different options to facilitate measures to prevent fuel pumps from going dry, as the country faces a severe foreign exchange crisis to pay for its imports.

COLOMBO, May 20 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's prime minister has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and vowed the government will buy enough fertiliser for the next planting season to boost productivity.

A decision in April last year by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ban all chemical fertilisers drastically cut yields and although the government has reversed the ban, no substantial imports have yet taken place.

COLOMBO, May 19 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's central bank has secured foreign exchange to pay for fuel and cooking gas shipments that will ease crippling shortages, its governor said on Thursday, but police fired tear gas and water canon to push back student protesters.

COLOMBO, May 17 (NNN-XINHUA) – Two Sri Lankan parliamentarians, Sanath Nishanatha and Milan Jayathilake, were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) yesterday, over attacks on protesters in Colombo on May 9.

The CID also arrested former provincial council member, Amal Silva, and an employee of the Moratuwa Urban Council, over the same charge.

The Attorney General, on Monday, instructed the police to arrest and produce the 22 suspects, including several parliamentarians, in connection with the violence.

Colombo, May 18 (PTI) Sri Lanka has received USD 160 Million from the World Bank and is looking at the possibility of using some of it to buy fuel, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Wednesday, as protests continued in the country against the ongoing fuel and gas shortages caused by the economic crisis.

"160 million dollars has been received from the World Bank and a grant from the ADB (Asian Development Bank) is also expected," Wickremesinghe said.

He said the money received from the World Bank cannot be used to buy fuel.

COLOMBO, May 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lanka will continue promoting friendly cooperation with China, newly appointed Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said, yesterday.

During a meeting with Chinese Ambassador, Qi Zhenhong, Wickremesinghe thanked China for extending assistance to Sri Lanka, during the difficult times, saying that, the new Sri Lankan government will promote the Belt and Road construction, and accelerate the development of the Colombo Port City, Hambantota Port and other major cooperation projects.

COLOMBO, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday appointed four ministers to the new cabinet after United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the South Asian country's prime minister on Thursday.

The new appointments are Dinesh Gunawardena as the minister of public administration, G.L. Peiris as the minister of foreign affairs, Prasanna Ranatunga as the minister of urban development, and Kanchana Wijesekera as the minister of power and energy, according to the President's Media Division.

COLOMBO, May 12 (Reuters) - Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's new prime minister, is no stranger to politics.

This is the sixth time the opposition lawmaker has held the post, and he is known domestically as an effective operator. He now faces the daunting task of leading the country out of its worst economic crisis since independence. 

Leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), Wickremesinghe was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony at the president's house on Thursday.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president on Wednesday promised to appoint a new prime minister, empower the Parliament and abolish the all-powerful executive presidential system as reforms to stabilize the country engulfed in a political crisis and violence triggered by the worst economic crises in memory.

In a televised address, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that he without partisanship condemns attacks on peaceful protesters by mobs who came to support his brother and former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned Monday.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan authorities deployed armored vehicles and troops on the streets of the capital Wednesday, a day after pro-government mobs attacked peaceful protesters, triggering a wave of violence across the country.

Security forces have been ordered to shoot those deemed to be participating in the violence, as sporadic acts of arson and vandalism continued into a second day despite a strict curfew that began Monday evening.