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

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

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

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to select 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’s 17 million voters head to the polls Saturday to elect a president two years after an economic meltdown and a historic debt default caused widespread political unrest and the ousting of the former strongman leader.