Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa says govt ready for talks with protesters

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has said his government is ready to hold discussions with youth who are holding protests at the Galle Face Green.

Entering the fifth day on Wednesday, the protests at the Galle Face Green, close to the Presidential Secretariat, call for immediate measures to be taken by the government to solve the current economic crisis featuring shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and other essential supplies as well as rising inflation.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign under any circumstances, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando told the parliament recently.

Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that the government had decided to suspend normal debt servicing of all affected debts for an interim period till it puts together an orderly and consensual restructuring program supported by the International Monetary Fund.