Blitz Bureau
SRI Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained the key finance minister portfolio and reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister on November 18 as the Indian Ocean island nation targets stronger recovery from a draining financial crisis, according to Reuters. Dissanayake, whose leftist coalition won a record 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in a general election last week, also reappointed veteran legislator Vijitha Herath to helm the foreign affairs ministry.
Dissanayake, who has held the key finance minister portfolio since he was elected in September, will continue in that role, two party sources told Reuters, as Sri Lanka looks to chart a stronger recovery out of its worst financial crisis since independence from the British in 1948. A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in Colombo for a third review of its $2.9 billion programme that is expected to release a tranche of about $337 million. The new parliament will meet soon to elect a speaker and Dissanayake will present his key policy priorities to the newly minted lawmakers.
“This power comes with accountability. Accountability to the people, and this power should be wielded with humility, restraint and boundaries. I have every confidence in this cabinet and parliament,” Dissanayake said in a speech after the swearing-in. The President will have to present an interim budget in the next few weeks, as well as find ways to reduce taxes and increase welfare, which were his key election pledges, without derailing the IMF programme.
