Sri Lankan Leader Keeps Finance Minister Job in New Cabinet
(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained the finance and defense portfolios as he administered the oath of office to 21 cabinet ministers on Monday after his coalition won a historic supermajority in the parliamentary election held last week.
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The president reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister, a post she held in the interim cabinet after Dissanayake won the Sept. 21 presidential poll. Vijitha Herath was reappointed as foreign minister and will also head the tourism ministry.
“Democracy and people’s rights will henceforth be protected,” the president said at the swearing-in ceremony in Colombo.
Dissanayake’s National People’s Power bloc got 159 seats in the Nov. 14 parliamentary vote, more than two-thirds of the 225 total in the legislature, that allows it to amend the constitution. The unprecedented win underscores the depth of support for the leftist leader who pledged to combat corruption and change the terms of an unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout.
IMF officials are in the South Asian island nation this week to kick start a third review of the $3 billion loan program, a precursor to unlocking additional funding. Dissanayake has said he’s committed to continuing the facility struck with the Washington-based lender but wants to amend unpopular austerity measures and reduce taxes.
During a meeting with an IMF delegation on Monday, Dissanayake reaffirmed his government’s readiness to collaborate with the lender to advance Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, his media unit said in a statement.
President Dissanayake “urged the IMF to maintain a balanced approach that considers the hardships faced by citizens,” according to the statement. Governance and anti-corruption were also “central to the discussions,” it said.
(Updates with president meeting IMF mission in sixth paragraph)
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