<span style="color: #222222;">Sri Lanka's president has agreed to replace his elder brother as Prime Minister in a proposed interim government to solve a political impasse caused by the country's worst economic crisis in decades.<br />''<br />''According to the lawmakers, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed that a national council will be appointed to name a new Prime Minister and Cabinet comprised of all parties in Parliament, lawmaker Maithripala Sirisena said after meeting with the president.<br />''<br />''Sirisena, who was president before Rajapaksa, was a governing party lawmaker before defecting earlier this month along with nearly 40 other legislators.<br />''<br />''Sri Lanka is near bankruptcy and has announced it is suspending payments on its foreign loans. It has to repay $7 billion in foreign debt this year, and $25 billion by 2026. Its foreign reserves stand at less than $1 billion.<br />''<br />''The foreign exchange shortage has severely limited imports, forcing people to wait in long lines to buy essentials such as food, fuel, cooking gas, and medicine.</span><br />