Sri Lankan President retains finance minister, reappoints Amarasuriya as prime minister

(CLO) On November 18, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained his key position as Finance Minister and reappointed Ms. Harini Amarasuriya as Prime Minister .

Mr Dissanayake, whose left-wing coalition won a record 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in last week's general election, also reappoints veteran lawmaker Vijitha Herath as head of Sri Lanka's foreign ministry.

Mr Dissanayake, who has also served as finance minister since being elected in September, will continue in that role as Sri Lanka seeks to recover from its worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

The new parliament will meet on November 21 to elect a speaker, and Mr Dissanayake will present his key policy priorities to the newly appointed lawmakers.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, 54, has the highest number of second preference votes and is an academic with a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.

Sri Lankan President and National People's Power Party (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Photo: Reuters

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, suffered an economic crisis in 2022 due to a severe foreign currency shortage that pushed the country into default and caused the economy to shrink 7.3% in 2022, up from 2.3% last year.

The president will have to present an interim budget in the coming weeks, as well as find a way to cut taxes and increase benefits, key pledges of his election, without derailing the International Monetary Fund's program.

Mr Dissanayake will also have to complete a restructuring of $12.5 billion in debt with bondholders and put growth on a sustainable path.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tong-thong-sri-lanka-tai-bo-nhiem-ba-amarasuriya-lam-thu-tuong-post321860.html