Sri Lanka reduces amount of foreign currency people can hold

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s central bank says it will lower the maximum amount of foreign currency that individuals can possess to $10,000 from $15,000 and penalize anyone who holds it for more than three months. Police, meanwhile, fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands of students demanding the government step down for failing to solve the country’s economic crisis. The students attempted to march to the presidential residence but were blocked by police in the capital’s commercial center. The central bank says people must place their excess foreign currency in a bank or convert it into local currency within two weeks. Sri Lanka faces a severe shortage of foreign currency that has sharply limited imports of essential items such as fuel, cooking gas, medicine and food.