COLOMBO (REUTERS, AFP) - Police in Sri Lanka’s capital lifted a curfew on Friday (April 1) after protests in which dozens of people were arrested and several policemen were hurt near the home of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over his handling of an economic crisis.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near Rajapaksa’s residence in a Colombo suburb late on Thursday before police dispersed them with tear gas and water cannons, a Reuters witness said.

“We have arrested 54 people over the unrest last night. Several vehicles belonging to the army and police were burnt by the protesters, including two buses, one police jeep and several motorcycles,” a police spokesman, Senior Superintendent Nihal Thalduwa, told Reuters.

The island nation of 22 million people is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in years with rolling blackouts for up to 13 hours a day because the government does not have enough foreign exchange to pay for fuel imports.

Five policemen were injured and in hospital, Thalduwa said, adding there were no reports of injuries among the protesters.

“The main issue Sri Lanka is facing is a forex shortage and protests of this nature will hurt tourism and have economic consequences,” Sri Lanka’s tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunge told a press conference on Friday.

“Our stance is that people have the right to protest but it should be constructive. What happened yesterday was the opposite.”

Streets in the capital were quiet on Friday morning. Police combed through the wreckage of two burnt-out buses near Rajapaksa’s home, a Reuters witness said.

Trading on the country’s stock market was suspended for the third day in a row after the main blue-chip index fell 10 per cent from the previous close.

Thursday night’s unrest saw hundreds of people, rallied by unidentified social media activists, march on the president’s home demanding his resignation. 

Police and military presence was beefed up around the city on Friday.

Rajapaksa’s office said the protesters wanted to create an "Arab Spring" – a reference to anti-government protests in response to corruption and economic stagnation that gripped the Middle East over a decade ago.  

"The Thursday night protest was led by extremist forces calling for an Arab Spring to create instability in our country," the president’s office said in a brief statement on Friday.  

Rajapaksa was not at home during the protest, according to official sources. 

A live broadcast by a private television network abruptly stopped after what journalists said was pressure from the government.  

But videos shared on social media verified as genuine by AFP showed men and women shouting "lunatic, lunatic go home" and demanding that all members of the powerful Rajapaksa family step down.  

The president’s elder brother Mahinda serves as prime minister while the youngest Basil is finance minister. His eldest brother and nephew also hold Cabinet positions.  

Sri Lanka’s predicament has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which torpedoed tourism and remittances.  

Many economists also say it has been exacerbated by government mismanagement and years of accumulated borrowing.  

Latest official data released Friday showed that inflation in Colombo hit 18.7 per cent in March, the sixth consecutive monthly record. Food prices also soared a record 30.1 per cent.  

Colombo imposed a broad import ban in March 2020 in a bid to save foreign currency needed to repay nearly US$7 billion (S$9.49 billion) this year to service its US$51 billion in debts.  

Diesel shortages had sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, but the protests had been in various towns and not aimed at any top leader.  

But on Thursday diesel was unavailable at stations across the island, according to officials and media reports.  

The state electricity monopoly said it enforced a 13-hour power cuts from Thursday – the longest ever – because it did not have diesel for generators.  

Several state-run hospitals have stopped conducting surgeries as they have run out of essential life-saving medicines.

The government has said it is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund while asking for more loans from India and China.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday that such talks should begin "in the coming days", with Sri Lanka's finance minister expected in the US capital.