People crowd a marketplace to stock up on essential items in Sri Lanka's Colombo. (Photo: AFP)

All Cabinet Ministers of Sri Lanka have decided to resign on Sunday, according to a report from AFP.

"All the ministers submitted their letters of resignation so that the president can constitute a new cabinet," education minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters, adding that the decision was taken after discussing the worsening economic crisis.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will remain unchanged.

Earlier on Friday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued the Extraordinary Gazette declaring a state of public emergency in Sri Lanka with immediate effect.

Rajapaksa said the emergency was declared in the interests of public security, protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.