Devjyot & Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s central bank governor will host a monetary policy meeting Friday. This is a day following his appointment, a source who has direct knowledge told Reuters. The move comes as the country struggles to overcome an economic crisis.

Political chaos erupted this week as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his entire cabinet resigned. Ajith Nived Cabraal, central bank chief, also resigned.

Rajapaksa’s request for unity government was rejected by both the opposition and some alliance partners. Rajapaksa still has to identify a new finance Minister ahead of planned talks this month with IMF for loans.

The protests against food and fuel shortages have not been stopped. A severe shortage in foreign currency is a major problem for the 22 million-strong nation that has been heavily indebted.

Cabraal’s former deputy governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Nandalal, Weerasinghe will take his place. He has also worked closely with IMF.

The source said that the monetary board meeting would be held Friday afternoon. He declined to identify himself before making the announcement.

“The announcement of policy will most likely be made on the morning following which, the new governor is expected hold a press conference in order to outline his priorities and plan.”

Although the central bank was initially scheduled to meet last Monday, they did not respond immediately to our request for comment.

Rajapaksa’s group is however still searching for a finance Minister, even though Ali Sabry left on Tuesday, one day after being appointed.

Sources close to the administration claim that the president has failed to hire a replacement despite numerous appeals from top government officials.

An immediate response was not received from a spokesperson for President Obama.