Finance Ministry loses both Minister and Secretary

Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry is currently without a chief and a deputy with the newly appointed Finance Minister and the Secretary to the ministry stepping down.

Finance Minister Ali Sabry, who was previously the Minister of Justice, stepped down from the role just a day after he took up the post. Just hours after Sabry announced his decision Finance Ministry Secretary S. R. Attygalle too announced his resignation.

Sabry was among the few who were given reshuffled portfolio after the Cabinet resigned earlier this week.
However, his stint as Finance Minister didn’t last even 24 hours as he decided to make room for a fitting official to take up the post at a time Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in history.

Sabry penned his resignation letter to the President yesterday. He stated that if the President wishes to appoint a person suitable to handle the situation from outside the current parliament, he is willing to step down from the MP post to enable to make such an appointment.

“I decided to accept the post of Finance Minister only as an interim measure until a suitable, full-time, and sustainable solution could be found,” Sabry said.

His move to accept the post of Finance Minister was received by the public with much confusion as the subject does not come under his area of expertise.

“It is my fervent hope that those who love our country will understand the enormous challenges and the realities on the ground and will act with responsibility and diligence without further worsening the present crisis,” Sabry said.