Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday announced that he will appoint a new Prime Minister and a Cabinet this week.
Governor of the bank Nandalal Weerasinghe told reporters that the political unrest derailed the bank's recovery plans, and the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister on Monday and the lack of a replacement were complicating matters.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, known for his brutal military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his presidency from 2005 to 2015, is also facing calls for his arrest from Opposition politicians.
Earlier on Tuesday, India had denied rumours circulating in sections of media and social media that certain Sri Lankan political persons and their families have fled to India.
According to local media reports, the Sri Lankan tri forces were ordered to shoot all those who plunder public property or cause personal harm, as large-scale protests continued across the island nation.
The order came after embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged people to stop 'violence and acts of revenge' against fellow citizens and vowed to address the political and economic crisis facing the nation.
Defying a nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka, several hundred protesters continued to chant slogans against the government. This comes a day after violent clashes left four people dead and prompted the resignation of the prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa. The island nation is facing it's worst economic crisis in decades.
Sri Lanka has been witnessing widespread protests in the last few days. Angry protesters clashed with police and resorted to violence in Colombo and some other places.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
An MP died during a confrontation outside the capital, police said. Army has been deployed in the national capital Colombo following incidents of violence.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Rajapaksa clan strongman, faced public wrath on Sunday in the sacred city of Anuradhapura. He was hooted and catcalled by the angry public who are on the streets demanding fuel, cooking gas and an end to power cuts.
Curfew was imposed islandwide with immediate effect until further notice, a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by the local media. A military contingent was deployed to the protest site to assist law enforcement.
Rajapaksa, 76, under intense pressure from within his own Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ranks to resign was gathering his supporters to apply counterpressure not to stand down.
The state of emergency gives the police and the security forces power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people.
The world bank is facilitating financial and technical assistance to Sri Lanka. The cash transfer will be done only through bank accounts. Any eligible person who doesn't have an account will be informed to open one immediately by government officials concerned, the minister said in a tweet.
On Monday, India had extended its current credit line by a further USD 200 million to replenish Sri Lanka’s rapidly depleting fuel stocks.
The resolution was unanimously passed by the house, including the opposition AIADMK and the BJP.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed that a national council will be appointed to name a new prime minister and Cabinet comprised of all parties in Parliament, lawmaker Maithripala Sirisena said after meeting with the president.
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Rajapaksa had responded to a letter from the chief monks of the four Buddhist chapters dated April 4 in which they had asked Rajapaksa to dissolve the Cabinet to set up an interim government.
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