Sri Lankans began voting Saturday in a presidential election that will determine the course of the country's recovery from its worst economic crisis and resulting political upheaval. The election, contested by 38 candidates,

Whoever wins the election will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF programme till 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, attract investors and

The economy, which collapsed in 2022 after a severe shortage of dollars, is one of the key issues for voters, who have struggled with inflation that soared to as much as 70%, a battered currency and power tariffs that jumped 65%.

As Sri Lanka sank into economic collapse in 2022, people from various walks of life rallied to change a long-entrenched government they saw as responsible. The unprecedented island-wide public uprising they led was a moment of hope for the country long been fatigued by war and economic instability.

Sri Lanka’s upcoming presidential election has become a referendum on a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan program that has helped to pull the island nation out of its worst economic crisis since independence.

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to elect a president who will face the task of bolstering the South Asian country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.