Gloria Blog

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who last month fled anti-government protests in his country, arrived in Thailand on Thursday night on a flight from Singapore, where he had been staying since mid-July. Thai television stations showed Mr Rajapaksa and a woman believed to be his wife outside the VIP hall at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport as they were led to a limousine, which then drove off to an undisclosed destination. Officials in Thailand on Wednesday said they had been asked by the Sri Lankan government to allow him entry, and that he would be permitted to stay temporarily. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he was aware of Mr Rajapaksa’s intended visit and that it was allowed for humanitarian reasons because the former president was seeking asylum in a third country. He did not elaborate but said Mr Rajapaksa would not engage in political activity while in Thailand. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2022/08/12/ousted-sri-lankan-president-a...

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team arrives in Sri Lanka on Monday for talks on a bailout program, but time is short for a country just days from running out of fuel and likely months from getting any relief money. Sri Lanka is battling its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, as decades of economic mismanagement and recent policy errors coupled with a hit from COVID-19 to tourism and remittances, shriveling foreign reserves to record lows. The island nation of 22 million people suspended payment on $12 billion debt in April. The United Nations has warned soaring inflation, a plunging currency and chronic shortages of fuel, food and medicine could spiral into a humanitarian crisis. The IMF team, visiting Colombo through June 30, will continue recent talks on what would be Sri Lanka’s 17th rescue program, the IMF said on Sunday. “We reaffirm our commitment to support Sri Lanka at this difficult time, in line with the IMF’s policies,” the global lender said in a state...