Sri Lanka central bank chief steps down as reserve crisis deepens

Country faces dwindling foreign exchange reserves, looming debt repayments and the economic fallout of lockdowns.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Weligamage Don Lakshman will step down Sept. 14 as the nation faces a deepening forex crisis that threatens its ability to import goods and service debt. His announcement at a briefing Friday comes as the South Asian island nation faces dwindling reserves and revenues, looming debt repayments and struggles with an extended lockdown to stem record Covid-19 cases. A successor wasn’t immediately named. “I have not taken any decisions against my conscience,” Lakshman said Friday, adding that he had originally planned to retire when he turned 80 next month. “There is a political economic ideology which I believe in and continue to believe in being correct,” he said, without elaborating.