Every minute on streets deprives Sri Lanka of dollars, says PM Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said Monday that his administration is working around the clock to address the economic crisis in an attempt to quiet the agitated demonstrators. The prime minister appealed for patience and support, saying his administration was trying to settle concerns as much as possible over the next several days. Rajapaksa urged demonstrators to halt their agitation, saying that every minute spent on the streets costs the cash-strapped country money.

"We are confronting this issue immediately following the outbreak. Despite knowing that the country's economy was in decline, we had to impose a lockdown, which destroyed our foreign reserves," Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's elder brother, addressed the public.

"The President and I are devoting every waking hour to figuring out how to pull Sri Lanka out of this current predicament," he added.

Rajapaksa also stated that he will not give up the nation's sovereignty in exchange for assistance from friendly countries, and that the island nation was at a critical point.

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The prime minister's address comes at a time when the country has been shaken by enormous anti-government rallies over weeks of prolonged power outages and a scarcity of gas, food, and other necessities.

Food and fuel shortages, as well as record inflation and frequent blackouts, have inflicted enormous hardship on Sri Lankans in the most devastating slump since the country's independence from Britain in 1948.

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• Gotabaya Rajapaksa
• Mahinda Rajapaksa
• Sri Lanka
• dollar
• economic crisis