Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and members of his cabinet on Monday confirmed their readiness to resign, while protesters continued to occupy the presidential palace and several government buildings.
Reuters quoted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as saying that the country's president had told him that he would resign on the date he had previously announced.
The Sri Lankan president announced on Sunday his intention to resign next Wednesday.
It also quoted the cabinet that members of the government will submit their resignations as soon as an agreement is reached to form a government that includes all parties.
Meanwhile, protesters are continuing their sit-in at the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister's Office and other government offices.
The protesters vowed to keep control of the headquarters until the fugitive president and prime minister resign and space is cleared for a multi-party government.
And Minal Fernandez, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Colombo, said - during an interview that took place earlier - that there are vigorous negotiations to form a government of national unity.
decision to step down
Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yaba Abiwardena announced that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa intends to resign on Wednesday.
He added - in a video statement - that the president took the decision to step down on July 13 to ensure a peaceful handover of power, calling on citizens to respect the law and maintain peace.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said he, too, had agreed to step down.
Crowds of protesters stormed the presidential palace on Sunday.
A live broadcast on Facebook showed hundreds of protesters, some with flags wrapped around their bodies, crowding the palace rooms and corridors and chanting slogans against President Rajapaksa.
Videos showed some protesters swimming in the swimming pool inside the palace, others sitting on mattresses and sofas, and some seen emptying a chest of drawers;
In clips spread widely across social networking sites.
Local news channels broadcast pictures of a huge fire and smoke rising from the prime minister's house in a wealthy suburb of Colombo, after it was stormed and set on fire.
America is watching
For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that his country is closely monitoring developments in Sri Lanka, and that the people there are demanding transparency and a better future.
Blinken condemned the violence against the demonstrators, calling for a comprehensive investigation and the prosecution of those responsible for the violent incidents that took place during the demonstrations.
The US State Department urged any constitutionally selected government to act quickly to remedy the economic collapse.
In a related context, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka warned of damage to the talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The International Monetary Fund is in talks with the Sri Lankan government about a possible $3 billion rescue plan.
Earlier, the fund said it hoped to find a solution to the current situation that would allow the resumption of dialogue on the rescue plan.
Sri Lanka has been suffering for several months, severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, the worst economic crisis since the country's independence in 1948, after the Corona pandemic led to a significant decrease in tourism revenues and remittances from expatriates.