Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reduced the responsibilities of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as a power struggle worsened within their uneasy coalition.

Sirisena took away the central bank, the policy-making National Operations Room and several other institutions from the control of Wickremesinghe, who had held them since coming to power in January 2015.

The changes were published in a government gazette notice issued yesterday which transferred the responsibilities to Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Sirisena joined hands with Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power.

Earlier this year, Sirisena publicly lambasted Wickremesinghe and his UNP, saying they had mismanaged the economy. Sirisena said the current government was also more corrupt than the former regime they toppled together.

A section within Sirisena's party supports a no-confidence move against Wickremesinghe slated for April 4. However, the UNP is the largest single party in the 225-member assembly and commands a comfortable majority with the help of allies.

Presidential powers to sack the government and call early elections were removed through a constitutional amendment introduced in the early days of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition.