Sri Lanka is facing a deepening financial and humanitarian crisis, with fears, it could go bankrupt in 2022 as inflation rises to record levels, food prices rocket and its coffers run dry .
The World Bank estimates 500,000 people have fallen below the poverty line since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, the equivalent of five years ’ progress in fighting poverty.
Inflation hit a record high of 12.1% in December and escalating prices have left those who were previously well off struggling to feed their families, with basic goods unaffordable for many. After president Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared Sri Lanka to be in an economic emergency, the military was given power to ensure essential items, including rice and sugar, were sold at set government prices – but it has done little to ease people’s woes.
He described how his village grocer was opening 1kg packets of milk powder and dividing it into packs of 100 g because customers could not afford the whole packet. “We now buy 100g of beans when we used to buy 1kg for the week,” said Paranagama.
The loss of jobs and vital foreign revenue from tourism, which usually contributes more than 10% of GDP, has been substantial, with more than 200,000 people losing their livelihoods in the travel and tourism sectors, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 03, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 03, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Bumpy road Electric car market stalls as sector enters new phase
Elon Musk became the world's richest man by evangelising about electric cars and delivering them by the million. Yet in recent months his company Tesla has struggled to maintain its momentum: sales have dropped, and so has the share price.
Darktrace cybersecurity firm agrees $5.3bn sale to US private equity business
The Cambridge-based cybersecurity and artificial intelligence company Darktrace is likely to become the latest British technology champion to be swallowed up by a US suitor, after it agreed a $5.3bn (£4.2bn) sale to the US private equity business Thoma Bravo.
Gallery on the edge The revolutionary museum born under the shadow of Franco
In July 1966, as the Beatles were preparing to release Revolver and Spain was approaching the 30th anniversary of the coup that birthed the Franco dictatorship, a Spanish-Filipino artist called Fernando Zóbel threw open the doors of an improbable but visionary cultural outpost.
Poland border pushbacks in spotlight again after pregnant woman's ordeal
The case of a woman from Eritrea who was forced to give birth alone in a forested area between Poland and Belarus has raised questions about the Polish government's response to the humanitarian crisis at the border dividing the countries.
'We tried every other tactic' University students on why they joined demonstrations
After going on hunger strike in February, Amine ended up spending six days in hospital. The 25-year-old McGill student, who was born in Morocco, did not eat for a total of 34 days: part of a relay system of hunger strikes that is continuing at the university.
French singer target of racism in Olympics row thanks fans at awards
The French pop star Aya Nakamura, who found herself at the centre of a racist row after rumours she was going to sing at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, has thanked fans for their support after winning three big prizes at France's Les Flammes awards for rap, R&B and pop.
Waves of exceptionally hot weather scorch south Asia
Millions of people across south and south-east Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.
Azov brigade The elite unit taking brunt of Russian assault
Fifteen miles east of the garrison town of Lyman, a desperate fight has been taking place for months on Ukraine's eastern front.
Israel Arrest of feminist scholar is 'threat to civil liberties'
The arrest and interrogation of a leading Palestinian legal scholar based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem marks a new threat to civil liberties in Israel, her legal team and employer have said.
Sderot Barrage of rockets raises doubts over IDF's ability to destroy Hamas
The two men, faces blurred and voices disguised, are screened by a dense scrub of fig and trailing vine in northern Gaza as they film themselves loading a rocket launcher.