Sri Lanka Leaders Signal PM May Quit as Prices Surge 30%
- Oil price surge, food shortages fuel Asia’s fastest inflation
- President conveyed willingness to form all-party government
A food stall in front of commercial buildings in downtown Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is willing to drop his brother as prime minister, according to a top leader, as a fresh surge in inflation threatens to renew calls for the family to resign.
Rajapaksa has agreed to form an all-party government with a new PM, local media reported Friday citing Maithripala Sirisena, a former president who was part of the ruling coalition before his Sri Lanka Freedom Party quit in protest of the Rajapaksas’ policies. Rajapaksa will also discuss the matter with other parties, lawmaker Weerasumana Weerasingha said, without elaborating.