"President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has formally informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe that he will step down from the presidency as previously announced," the statement said.

Mahinda Yap Abeywardan, speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament, said the president will step down on July 13.

Earlier, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe announced that he would leave his post.

The resignation was also announced by a number of ministers of the country.