As Sri Lanka votes, a $2.9bn IMF loan looms large
Al Jazeera
Ranil Wickremesinghe, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa are contesting an election focused on the economy.
Ahead of Sri Lanka’s presidential election, no issue is more central than the economy.
With the South Asian country still struggling from its worst financial crisis in decades, Saturday’s ballot amounts to a referendum on austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year.
In a crowded field of 38 candidates, all eyes are on three men: incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his two closest rivals, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa, both of whom want a new deal with the Washington, DC-based lender.
A six-time prime minister, Wickremesinghe represents the old guard.
His United National Party (UNP) has been one of Sri Lanka’s dominant political forces since the country’s independence in 1948.
