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Bloomberg
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is ready to meet the protesters, who are holding rallies for the past five days and calling for the ouster of the government for its economic policies that have brought the county to the brink of a debt default.
“Understanding that this is a tough time for all of us, I invite them to meet & discuss any possible, plausible courses of action for the sake of #lka,†Rajapaksa said in a tweet.
Rajapaksa’s offer appears to be a more conciliatory after Sri Lanka warned of an unprecedented default and halted payments on foreign debt, a step taken to preserve its dwindling dollar stockpile for essential food and fuel imports.
In a televised speech, Rajapaksa called on citizens to be patient as price surges and shortages worsen, while touting his family’s role in ending a decades-long civil war back in 2009.
“Every second you protest on the road we are losing dollars,†he said in the address to the nation. “Though all parties represented in parliament were urged to come forward to resolve the current crisis, no one has come forward.