The main reason for worrying about Mr Dissanayake is not that he is a zealot. It is that he has little experience in government, barring a brief stint as agriculture minister two decades ago. Somehow, he must continue with painful reforms to keep the economy stable without alienating the people who elected him. It is an almost impossible task.

On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National

Sri Lanka plans to move ahead with the third review of its nearly $3 billion programme of support from the International Monetary Fund, the new government said on Thursday, as the island nation seeks to emerge from its worst financial crisis in decades.

Sri Lanka's painful austerity measures were "bearing fruit" and must be sustained, the International Monetary Fund said Friday as the country's new president sought changes to its $2.9 billion bailout.

Sri Lanka's new president Thursday urged the IMF to consider "alternative means" to continue with a $2.9 billion bailout that aided his country in the wake of a sovereign default but imposed painful austerity.