Rampant inflation and shortages of essentials such as food and medicine have driven many Sri Lankans into poverty. Read more at straitstimes.com.
COLOMBO - In her outstretched palms, 49-year-old Nilanthi Gunasekera holds her family's last remaining handful of dried fish - a reminder ofShe is just one of the millions of Sri Lankans battling a calamitous decline in living standards, as they find themselves forced to skip meals, ration out medicines and turn to firewood in place of cooking gas.
Rampant inflation, snaking fuel queues and shortages of essentials such as food and medicine have driven many Sri Lankans into poverty, while months of street protestsMore than a quarter of the population of 22 million is now struggling to secure adequate, nutritious food, the United Nations says. But major financial assistance is still months away, making tough austerity measures likely, so that few Sri Lankans will see conditions improve soon.
"It's very hard work," said the 25-year-old, who now makes do with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits as the day's only meal."But what else can I do when there are no jobs for us?""Government hospitals have run out of medicine so they ask us to buy from pharmacies - but we don't have any money," said Krishan's mother, 60-year-old Gamage Rupawathi.
Dilhani Wathsala, 14, eating her lunch cooked by her mother, Nilanthi Gunasekera, amid the country's economic crisis. PHOTO: REUTERSWith education already disrupted by the pandemic, children were among the worst hit by the economic crisis that followed, as parents scrambled for supplies and authorities worried about growing risks of malnutrition.
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