Sri Lanka’s President Appoints 3-Member Cabinet
Anura Kumara Dissanayake has taken the key finance portfolio himself as Sri Lanka looks to emerge from its most punishing economic crisis in 70 years. Colombo:
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed a new Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday evening, with Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, lawmaker Vijitha Herath and himself taking on Cabinet portfolios.
Dissanayake will now oversee defence, finance, economic development, policy formulation, planning, tourism, energy, agriculture, lands, livestock, irrigation, fisheries and aquatic resources, Xinhua news agency reported.
Dissanayake, 55, has taken the key finance portfolio himself as Sri Lanka looks to emerge from its most punishing economic crisis in 70 years and its first debt default, while keeping promises to aid the nation’s poor.
Dissanayake’s intentions to slash taxes and desire to revisit the terms of a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout have worried investors, who fear that it could delay a crucial $25 billion debt restructuring.