PM says protests are hurting rebuilding of Sri Lanka economy

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa appealed for protesters to end the weeks of mass demonstrations that have called for the government to resign over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Rajapaksa and his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have become a focus of the protests that started over shortages of fuel, food and other essentials and daily power outages. Most of those items are paid in hard currency, but Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy, saddled with dwindling foreign reserves and $25 billion in foreign debt. Nearly $7 billion is due this year.

In a televised speech to the nation, Rajapaksa says the government is launching a plan to rebuild the country and “every second” protesters spend demonstrating on the streets takes away opportunities to receive crucial foreign currency.

Protesters, meanwhile, continued occupying the entrance to the president’s office for a third day Monday demanding he resign.

Talks with the International Monetary Fund are expected later this month, and the government has turned to China and India for emergency loans to buy food and fuel.

Mahinda Rajapaksa blamed the foreign exchange crisis on COVID-19 restrictions and the loss of crucial tourism income.

“We are embarking on an enormous program to overcome the crisis we face today. Every second spent by the president and this government is used up exhausting avenues to rebuild our country,” he said.

“Friends, every second you protest on the streets, our country loses opportunities to receive potential dollars,” he said.

Much of the anger expressed by weeks of growing protests has been directed at the Rajapaksa family, which been in power for most of the past two decades. Critics accuse the family of borrowing heavily to finance...