Category: Local News

Two men aged 47 and 51 who were standing in queues to get fuel in Dankotuwa and Wennappuwa have died, police said.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has invited the 41 parliamentarians who recently quit the government for a discussion at 07:00 PM today (April 10) on their proposals for an interim government, former President and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithripala Sirisena said.

Thousands of Sri Lankans rallied in the country’s main business district and Christian clergy marched in the capital to observe a day of protest on Saturday calling on the debt-ridden country’s president to resign, as anxiety and anger over shortages simmered.

Sri Lanka will need about $3 billion in external assistance in the next six months to help restore supplies of essential items including fuel and medicine, its finance minister told Reuters on Saturday.

A massive protest is currently underway with the participation of a large number of people at Galle Face, Colombo, demanding the government’s resignation.

Pharmaceutical drugs importers have been permitted to increase the prices of drugs by 20%, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) said.

The National People’s Power (NPP) says they do not plan to stop protests during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year week.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says it has significantly tightened its monetary policy stance to stabilise the country’s economy.

The European Union has requested Sri Lankan authorities to start in-depth discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the reforms needed to bring the Sri Lankan economy back to a sustainable path.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not yet accepted the resignation of Ali Sabry as the Finance Minister which then makes him the Minister of Finance even to this day, MP Kanchana Wijesekera said in Parliament today (April 08).

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has instructed the Serjeant-at-Arms to remove MPs Thisakutti Arachchi and Chaminda Wijesiri from the parliament chamber for obstructing the proceedings of Parliament during the debate on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report on Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Government issued an extraordinary gazette today (April 08) informing the public that 26 Ministers had resigned.

The Ministry of Trade said that steps will be taken to import 300,000 metric tons of rice to ensure a continuous supply of Rice to the people at cheaper rates, during the festive season.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced that No power cuts will be imposed on the 13th and 14th of April 2022, the two days of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

Former Minister Ali Sabry yesterday (April 07) in Parliament apologised to people for his contribution to their suffering.

Sri Lanka’s national medical association warned Thursday that hospitals will be unable to provide even emergency services in coming weeks because of critical shortages of drugs and medical equipment caused by the country’s economic crisis, leading to a catastrophic number of deaths if supplies aren’t replenished.