Nine new cabinet ministers take oath in bankrupt Sri Lanka

In the banrupt Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday administered oath to nine new cabinet ministers  Officials from the President's Office said more ministers will be sworn in to the new cabinet by next week. Earlier, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared the country  bankrupt as it faces a fuel crisis and food shortages. Speaking to media  Wickremesinghe said, the last administration is to blame for the country has come to a point where it is bankrupt which has never happened before. We have no dollars, we have no rupees, we are not in a stable position, we are feeling the rise of the price of fuel, and we know it will go higher, he added.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka's central bank has secured foreign exchange to pay for fuel and cooking gas shipments that will ease crippling shortages, its governor said on Thursday. Most of Sri Lanka's petrol stations have run dry as the island nation battles its most devastating economic crisis since independence in 1948. At some pumps in the commercial capital, Colombo, dozens of people stood in lines holding plastic cans, as troops in combat gear and armed with assault rifles patrolled the streets. Sri Lanka has seen weeks of public protests amid ongoing political and economic instability, which has led to a shortage in essential supplies including food and medicines.