President Ranil Wickremesinghe charted a path for Sri Lanka out of its worst financial crisis in decades, but the austerity measures that were key to this recovery may hinder his bid to return to his job in Saturday's presidential election.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka began voting for its next president on Saturday, effectively turning the election into a referendum on the International Monetary Fund's unpopular austerity plan implemented following the country’s severe financial crisis.

Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe did not scrap his re-election campaign days before the bankrupt nation voted in the first poll since its economic collapse, contrary to claims spread online.

Sri Lankans who usually vote along religious and ethnic lines will be keeping another factor in mind when they vote Saturday on a new president

Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but in Saturday’s presidential election, not even one will be on the ballot

Whoever wins the election will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF programme till 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, attract investors and

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to elect a president who will face the task of bolstering the South Asian country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

Sri Lanka will hold a presidential election on Saturday for the first time since its strongman president fled the country two years ago in the face of protests over an economic collapse. During the 2022 crisis,