{"id":123569,"date":"2022-03-16T16:40:57","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T23:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=123569"},"modified":"2022-03-16T16:40:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T23:40:57","slug":"hundreds-protest-in-crisis-hit-sri-lanka-as-imf-talks-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/03\/16\/hundreds-protest-in-crisis-hit-sri-lanka-as-imf-talks-loom\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds protest in crisis-hit Sri Lanka as IMF talks loom"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBCNews<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Anger is growing over a worsening economic situation that has brought fuel shortages and spiraling food prices, prompting officials to seek international help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TOPSHOT-SRI
An activist shouts and holds up burning bread as he protests rising living costs at the entrance of the president\u2019s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.Ishara S. Kodikara \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka \u2014 Opposition leaders led a march of hundreds of protesters through Sri Lanka\u2019s main city of Colombo on Tuesday as anger grows over a worsening economic crisis that has brought fuel shortages and spiraling food prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s government said it will begin talks next month with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance, while Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa flew into New Delhi to sign a $1-billion credit line to tackle the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after working about 14 to 16 hours a day, we still can\u2019t make enough money to support our families,\u201d said rickshaw driver Nissanka Gunewardena, one of those who marched on a tree-lined boulevard in central Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can anyone live like this?\u201d added Gunewardena, 34, who has two young children and wore a black headband that read Gota Go Home,\u201d referring to the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically weak government finances, badly timed tax cuts and the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>, which hit the lucrative tourism industry and foreign remittances, have wreaked havoc on the economy, leading to a currency devaluation last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get the Morning Rundown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get a head start on the morning’s top stories.SIGN UPTHIS SITE IS PROTECTED BY RECAPTCHA PRIVACY POLICY<\/a> | TERMS OF SERVICE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign exchange reserves have fallen 70 percent in the last two years to about $2.31 billion, leaving the Indian Ocean island nation struggling to pay for essential imports, including food and fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SRI
People lining up to buy gas cylinders in Colombo on Monday amid fuel shortages. Ishara S. Kodikara \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last week\u2019s devaluation stoked further inflation, inflicting more distress on Sri Lankans battling rolling power cuts and fuel shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have told the government time and again to change their policies,\u201d said Eran Wickramaratne, a leader of the opposition alliance, Samagi Jana Balawegaya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government, led by the Rajapaksa brothers, another of whom is Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has pushed Sri Lanka\u2019s 22 million people deep into hardship, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the only country in the world where the president and the finance minister have no idea about economic management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After months of resistance to seeking IMF help, Rajapaksa\u2019s government said on Tuesday it would begin talks with the multilateral lender next month after the cabinet authorized the finance minister to draw up proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabinet spokesman Ramesh Pathirana said the government would firm up plans on IMF assistance in the next few weeks as the finance minister prepares to visit Washington in mid-April for the discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Delhi this week, the finance minister will sign the $1-billion credit line previously agreed with India to bring in key imports of medicine, food and fuel. He will also meet India\u2019s finance and energy ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we are all very disappointed,\u201d said Gunewardena, the protester, adding that he had voted for Rajapaksa in the last presidential election in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think this government should go. We want change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBCNews Anger is growing over a worsening economic situation that has brought fuel shortages and spiraling food prices, prompting officials to seek international help. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka \u2014 Opposition leaders led a march of hundreds of protesters through Sri Lanka\u2019s main city of Colombo on Tuesday as anger grows over a worsening economic crisis that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}