Hit by Crisis and Bankruptcy, Sri Lanka Doesn’t Have a Finance Minister

COLOMBO, KOMPAS.com – Sri Lanka appointed nine new ministers on Friday (20/5/2022), but the position of finance minister remains vacant.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who replaced Mahinda Rajapaksa after the elder brother of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned, has promised to form a cross-party coalition after the previous cabinet was dissolved.

New ministers — among others in health, education and justice positions — were sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at his heavily fortified official residence in Colombo, the government said. AFP.

Read also: Sri Lanka runs out of gas and can’t import because they don’t have dollars

A total of two legislators from the main opposition SJB party decided to join the new government.

The other opposition, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, agreed to support President Rajapaksa and was given a seat.

The position of finance minister – who will be responsible for leading negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the bail-out – is still vacant.

However, the new prime minister’s office told AFPsomeone will be appointed next week to serve as Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance.

Delays in appointing finance ministers could hinder IMF negotiations, the head of the central bank warned Thursday.

Sri Lanka is facing the worst foreign exchange shortfall of all time. The government is unable to finance even the imports of the most essential materials such as food, fuel and medicine.

The country of 22 million people has endured severe economic hardship for months.

Consumers were unable to buy gasoline, diesel and cooking gas, while staple foods were rationed. Sri Lanka also faces record inflation and long daily power outages.

Read also: Inflation, Sri Lanka Crisis Solution

The government closed offices and schools on Friday (05/20/2022) as gasoline shortages crippled transportation across the country.

However, officials say the government managed to collect the $53 million needed to pay for a shipment of gasoline that arrived at Colombo port this week.

Retail gas stations could get fuel supplies over the weekend, officials said.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka announced Thursday (05/19/2022) that it will not be able to continue servicing its external debt for at least six months until the country’s US$51 billion (Rp 747.75 trillion) foreign debt is restructured.

Read also: What’s Wrong with Sri Lanka: Why Bankruptcy and Causes of Debt Default

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