Sri Lanka's new president promises 'cleaner' politics

Dissanayake takes office as investors worry he will revisit IMF bailout terms

20240923 Dissanayake Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addresses a gathering after taking his oath of office at the Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo, on Sept. 23. © Reuters

COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Sri Lankan leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office as president on Monday, promising change in a nation long led by powerful political families and now emerging from its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

Millions of Sri Lankans had voted for the opposition parliamentarian, putting faith in his graft-fighting pledge and vow to bolster a fragile economic recovery.

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