Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has apprised the lawmakers that the economy of the debt-ridden country has “collapsed” after months of a severe shortage of food, fuel, and electricity.
The country is in dire need of help as it is still planning to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for additional credit.
The PM told the Parliament that the country is going through a far more serious problem than the shortages alone and he warned of “a possible fall to rock bottom”.
Not citing any new developments, he stated the ongoing crisis that the island nation of 22 million is currently facing is to be considered its worst in recent memory.
By giving out all these comments, PM Ranil tried to emphasize that he was handling the most difficult task which was nearly impossible to fix quickly.
Considering all the factors such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis which has led to the surge in prices for the commodities, and lost tourism revenue, the after-effects of the pandemic have made the country stumble under the heavyweights of a huge debt.
This is slowly forcing the country to move towards bankruptcy with close to no money to import even basic commodities such as cooking gas, fuel, milk, etc.
Even lawmakers from the two prominent opposition parties had boycotted Parliament this week to protest against the recently elected Prime Minister who is also the Finance Minister, as he is unable to deliver the promises he had made.
Recently, the government officials have been given every Friday off for the next three months to save on fuel and grow their own fruits and vegetables in their backyards.