The parliament met today for the first time since these protests began.

Their warnings come on a day the ruling coalition lost the support of over 40 lawmakers in the 225-member parliament, leaving president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government mired in further trouble.

The president has insisted he will not step down but has offered to hand over the government to a party with 113 seats (a simple majority), a local report said.

The opposition have so far refused to play ball and dismissed Rajapaksa's offer of a 'unity government' - essentially an all-party administration - as a 'sham'.

Sajith Premadasa, the leader of largest - the United People’s Force, or SJB - said: "We must heed the voices in the streets. The government should go, starting from the president."

The SJB has 54 seats. The ruling coalition controlled nearly 150 seats before this crisis but the exit of dozens has left it relying on independent legislators to maintain control of the government.

Earlier today the Rajapaksa government also lost its second finance minister in 48 hours - Ali Sabry resigned a day after Basil Rajapaksa, the president's brother, was removed. Sabry was due to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund later this month to find a way out of this crisis.

On Monday an embattled Gotabaya Rajapaksa lost his entire cabinet - 26 ministers quit under pressure from thousands defied a curfew and a state of emergency to protest nationwide against the government's handling of the economy and demand the president's resignation.

So far neither Gotabaya nor his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the prime minister, have quit.

Discontent against the Rajapaksa family that controls the government had been simmering for days till it erupted last week with hundreds of people trying to storm the president's Colombo home.

Sri Lanka's crisis has been triggered by a mountain of debt.

It has $51 billion in foreign debts, of which $4 billion is due this year, including $1 billion in July. The country has only $2.31 billion in reserves.

Essentially Sri Lanka is running out of foreign currency and is unable to pay for essential goods like food, fuel, medicines, etc.

India has stepped in with lines of credit worth over $2 billion and fuel aid worth an additional $500 million. Sri Lanka has also approached China for assistance.

(With inputs from agencies)