Sri Lanka to hold all-party conference on economic situation

Colombo: An all-party conference in Sri Lanka will be held on March 23 to discuss the current economic situation in the South Asian country, local media reports said on Sunday citing the presidential secretariat.

The conference will be presided over by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and attended by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and figures from all political parties represented in Parliament, Xinhua news agency quoted the reports as saying.

The country has seen the national currency Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) devalued significantly against all major international currencies, in addition to fuel and gas shortages as well as daily electricity cuts.

The state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation on Friday increased the price of Octane 92 petrol by 77 LKR to 254 LKR per liter, that of Octane 95 petrol by 76 LKR to 283 LKR, and that of the auto diesel by 55 LKR to 176 LKR, according to the media reports.