Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has told Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would respect any decision taken at the party leaders' meeting scheduled for 16:00 local time on Saturday, the prime minister's office said.

Rajapaksa has reportedly fled Colombo amid worsening economic crisis in the country.

Earlier on Saturday, large numbers of protesters demanding the resignation of the president and the incumbent government stormed the president's official residence and the Presidential Secretariat, as well as the prime minister's office in Colombo.

According to local media Ada Derana, 16 local parliamentarians have also directed a letter to Rajapaksa urging him to step down.