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 Lankans are voting in a presidential election that will determine the course of the country’s recovery from its worst economic crisis and resulting political upheaval.

Wickremensignhe’s main challengers — opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and parliamentarian Anura Dissanayake, a surprise top contender who heads a new leftist coalition — have promised major political changes, including renegotiating a deal with the International Monetary Fund to win more favorable terms.

All of the capitalist candidates is today’s election are committed to a continuing the International Monetary Fund’s savage austerity being implemented by President Wickremesinghe.

Election officials carry ballot boxes a day before the presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 20, 2024. Sri Lanka's presidential election will take place on Sept. 21 with over 17 million registered voters to elect the South Asian country's president for the next five years.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president and forced him to flee the country. As the country prepares for its first election since then, many say they’re still waiting for change.

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

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.

Scarred by a decades-long civil war and struggling to survive in Sri Lanka's crippled economy, ethnic minority Tamils in the island nation say they have little hope that Saturday's presidential election will improve their lot by much.