Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has stated that he is ready for a discussion with protestors of Galle Face, who have been protesting for five days against the government, news agency ANI reported.
On Monday, the Prime Minister had addressed the nation; his first direct outreach to the people since the economic crisis triggered crippling food and fuel shortages and engulfed the country in protests.
"Every second you protest on the road, we are losing dollars," Mahinda Rajapaksa said, adding that, "every second of the President and the government is being used to resolve this crisis".
Rajapaksa also alleged that the protesters are insulting the Sri Lankan war heroes who fought against the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insurgents, asking the youths of the country to desist from the insults.
In an emotional appeal, Rajapaksa said, "We ended the war (with LTTE) not to put the people of this country into this status, we constructed highways not to keep people in queues. We built ports not to idle oil ships in our ports until we find the dollars to pay for them. We will make all efforts to overcome this crisis."
"My family and I have received more insults than anyone, but we are seasoned with such insults. But my dear sons and daughters, please do not harass the war heroes who saved our country from terrorism," he added.
Rajapaksa also used the occasion to reintroduce chemical fertilizer subsidies, which were revoked last year, in a disastrous attempt to make Sri Lanka's agricultural sector 100 per cent organic.
"This was not the best time to introduce the usage of carbonic fertiliser. We have decided to re-introduce the fertiliser subsidy," he said.
Targetting the Opposition, Rajapaksa said that "although all parties represented in Parliament were urged to come forward to resolve the current crisis in the country, no one has come forward."
He also said that the ongoing crisis will not be resolved in a day or two and that all possible steps will be taken by the government to resolve the crisis.
"Our responsibility through a peoples' mandate is to ensure that decisions are taken not to destroy the democratic ruling system in the country. We work towards that goal," the Sri Lankan Prime Minister said.
On Tuesday, Sri Lanka warned that it would temporarily default on its foreign debts amid its worst economic crisis in over 70 years.
Officials said the impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine war made it "impossible" to pay its creditors.
The South Asian country has seen mass protests as it suffers food shortages, soaring prices and power cuts. It is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week on a loan programme to get its economy back on track.
Sri Lanka's finance ministry said it otherwise had an "unblemished record" of paying its dues since independence from the UK in 1948.
"Recent events, however... have eroded Sri Lanka's fiscal position that continued normal servicing of external public debt obligations has become impossible," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The IMF had assessed Sri Lanka's debt to be unsustainable last month, the ministry noted.
"Although the government has taken extraordinary steps in an effort to remain current on all of its external indebtedness, it is now clear that this is no longer a tenable policy," it said.
"A comprehensive restructuring of these obligations will be required."
Sri Lanka's foreign reserves stood at $1.93bn at the end of March. However, it has around $4bn in foreign debt payments due this year.
The country recently named a new central bank chief and almost doubled its key interest rate to help tackle soaring prices and shortages of essential goods.
In recent weeks, demonstrators have taken to the streets of the capital Colombo as homes and businesses were hit with long power cuts.
Sri Lankans are faced with shortages and rising inflation after the country steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of talks with the IMF over a bailout.
