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.

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.

About 75 per cent of the eligible 17 million people in Sri Lanka cast their votes in Saturday's election..Anura Kumara Dissanayake. National People's Power. Sri Lanka elections. Sri Lanka New President.

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

Sri Lanka's Marxist-leaning leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake grabbed a commanding early lead on Sunday in his bid to become the next president of the debt-ridden country seeking to elect a leader to bolster its fragile economic recovery.

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa headed to a run-off for Sri Lanka's presidency on Sunday, the election body said,

Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but in Saturday’s presidential election, not even one will be on the ballot

Sri Lanka’s presidential election has headed into a run-off, with leftist outsider Anura Kumara Dissanayake leading the vote count but failing to pass the 50 per cent threshold needed for an outright victory in the south Asian country’s first election since it fell into default.