Issued on: 22\/06\/2022 - 09:00<\/p>\n
Colombo (AFP) Sri Lankan casino magnate Dhammika Perera entered parliament on Wednesday with a mandate to revive the bankrupt island nation's wrecked economy -- working alongside a premier who once accused him of corruption. <\/p>\n
The 54-year-old Perera is a long-time loyalist of the powerful Rajapaksa clan, whom protesters have accused of mismanaging the country into its current predicament.<\/p>\n
He replaces President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's youngest brother, Basil, who resigned from parliament this month after stepping down as finance minister in April.<\/p>\n
\"He was nominated by the president and will shortly take over the investment promotion portfolio and enter the cabinet,\" a ruling party official told AFP. <\/p>\n
Perera will serve in a unity government formed to tackle the crisis alongside Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who in 2015 accused the casino boss of being a \"demon who protected the corrupt regime of Rajapaksas\".<\/p>\n
Wickremesinghe has also described Perera as one of four most corrupt businessmen in the country.<\/p>\n
Both men shook hands on Wednesday soon after Perera was sworn into parliament before the chamber's speaker. <\/p>\n
Perera -- who also has interests in banking, hotels, manufacturing, logistics and exports -- takes office at a time when Sri Lanka is suffering through months-long shortages of food, fuel and other essential goods. <\/p>\n
Long queues form outside gas stations each day for scarce petrol supplies, while regular blackouts and runaway inflation have made life difficult for the island nation's 22 million people.<\/p>\n
The government has defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt and is seeking an International Monetary Fund bailout. <\/p>\n
Perera has claimed to have devised a plan to raise Sri Lanka's per capita income more than threefold to $12,000 -- a figure higher than China's.<\/p>\n
He has also pledged to address Sri Lanka's critical foreign currency shortage by selling 10-year visas to foreigners willing to deposit at least $100,000 in local bank accounts -- a scheme already in place since April. <\/p>\n
2022 AFP<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the rest here:<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka bets on casino magnate to revive wrecked economy - RFI English<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Issued on: 22\/06\/2022 - 09:00 Colombo (AFP) Sri Lankan casino magnate Dhammika Perera entered parliament on Wednesday with a mandate to revive the bankrupt island nation's wrecked economy -- working alongside a premier who once accused him of corruption. The 54-year-old Perera is a long-time loyalist of the powerful Rajapaksa clan, whom protesters have accused of mismanaging the country into its current predicament Continue reading