Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday assured the people suffering from the unprecedented economic difficulties that his government is working round-the-clock to address their woes and appealed to protesters to end their agitation, saying every minute spent on streets deprives the cash-strapped country of precious dollars. Amidst a growing pressure on him to quit following the unprecedented economic crisis facing the island nation, the embattled leader addressed the nation in a bid to calm the agitating people who are protesting on the streets over lengthy power outages and shortage of gas, food and other essentials.
The government is working round-the-clock to overcome the economic crisis, Mahinda, the elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said. He also appealed to the protesters to end their anti-government agitation and said that every minute spent on streets deprives the country of dollar inflow. The address of the prime minister came hours after Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa alleged that poor economic policies of the government had contributed to the country's economic downturn.