The price of corruption How Sri Lanka's crisis came about-and what might happen next

Not so long ago, Sri Lanka was regarded as a south Asian success story, with clean streets, impressive infrastructure and free healthcare and education. But all of this costs money, and for years the government relied on foreign loans. We are now witnessing the fallout. How did Sri Lanka get to this point and where does it go from here?

- Nimo Omer and Hannah Ellis-Petersen

1 An unstable government

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka's government has been structured with both a prime minister and a president. The prime minister is the head of government and the most senior member of parliament. But the real power lies with the president.

One family - the Rajapaksas - has dominated the Sri Lankan political sphere, concentrating power in the hands of a few senior officials - who all happen to be related. Unsurprisingly, this has led to problems over the past two decades, including political violence against minorities and accusations of rampant corruption.

2 Economic crisis

The problems are systemic and longstanding. Through a series of terrible financial decisions, the government has spent all of the money it had, in particular the dollars. This is a problem for Sri Lanka as it relies heavily on imports.

With no cash left, importing basic necessities like food, fuel and medicines has become difficult - some products have gone up as much as five times in price.