The $2.9 billion loan secured early last year required Colombo to sharply raise taxes, remove generous energy subsidies and agree to restructure more than 50 loss-making state enterprises.
The new president is an ordinary citizen in social terms with no pretensions to public display of power, taste, wealth or grandeur.
Dissanayake's presidency presents an opportunity to reimagine Sri Lanka’s economic strategy.
Sri Lankan lawmakers chose six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president Wednesday to succeed the ousted leader who fled the country in a vote that risks reigniting political turmoil in the troubled South Asian island nation.
Sri Lanka's president was considering using a navy patrol craft to flee the island Tuesday following a humiliating standoff with airport immigration, official sources of AFP said.
