The Colombo Stock Exchange plunged on Monday after the government resigned en bloc.
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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called on the opposition to join a unity government on Monday (4 April) to tackle the deepening economic crisis together. Twenty-six ministers presented their resignation letters during a meeting held late at night from Sunday to Monday. Only the president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, remain. “The President invites all political parties in Parliament to accept ministerial posts and join the effort to find solutions to the national crisis”Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said in a statement.
Shortly before, the Colombo Stock Exchange halted trading as the blue chip index plunged 5.92% just after opening, reacting to the government’s wholesale resignation. The country of 22 million inhabitants suffers from shortages of essential goods, food products, fuel, medicines, power cuts and record inflation, with nothing to suggest an end to the economic difficulties. The government, which acknowledged it was the worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948, asked for help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but negotiations could last until the end of the year.
The army and police were placed on high alert as a 36-hour curfew ended at dawn on Monday. Intelligence services have warned of further unrest, following several days of protests. President Rajapaksa had imposed a state of emergency on Friday April 1, the day after an attempted assault on his residence in Colombo by an angry mob.