COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a 30-member cabinet on Thursday, days after Ranil Wickremesinghe was reinstated as prime minister following a lengthy political crisis.
Mangala Samaraweera was reappointed as finance minister as parliament considers a temporary budget aimed at avoiding a government shut down from Jan. 1.
The island nation was plunged into crisis in October after Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa without the backing of parliament, leading to protests and downgrades of Sri Lanka’s debt.
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; editing by Darren Schuettler)