Can new president Ranil Wickremesinghe rescue Sri Lanka’s economy?

Sri Lanka’s trajectory will be watched globally even as the CIA becomes first to react soon after Wickremesinghe’s election

Sri Lanka’s new president Ranil Wickremesinghe will have his work cut out for him to handle the country’s collapsed economy after he was chosen to carry out his self-exiled predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s full term.

Mr Wickremesinghe, who was sworn in on Thursday after being chosen by parliamentary lawmakers a day earlier, has a tough task ahead of him.

His handling of the cash-strapped country’s economy will be closely watched by global superpowers US and China, the latter of which the Rajapaksa clan has relied on and which some analysts blame for having a hand in the destruction of the economy.