Sri Lanka's newly appointed 37- member cabinet took oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat early Friday afternoon in the capital Colombo, government officials said.

Officials from the Department of Government Information said President Rajapaksa's younger brother Basil Rajapaksa has been sworn in as the Economic Minister.

The foreign affairs portfolio went to G. L. Peiris, who is the former Export Development and International Trade Minister.

The ceremony came after the ruling party bagged 144 seats in the 225 member parliament in the election held on April 8.

According to the island's constitution, only members of parliament can be appointed as ministers.

The newly elected 225 legislators were sworn in on Thursday before Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the older brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

In the April 8 parliamentary election held after the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, the main opposition United National Party won just 60 seats.

The main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance won 14 seats, followed by the leftist Democratic National Alliance with seven seats.

Under criticism for a swollen cabinet, President Rajapaksa has vowed to reduce the number of cabinet ministers to around 35.

However, the cabinet ministers will be supplemented by an equal number of deputy ministers, government sources said.