Sri Lanka
Written by: Vidur Srikrishna
Summary:
In recent months, inflation has ruined Sri Lanka’s economy. People are lining up to get what is most likely going to be their only meal for the day. In an article about this on BBC News, Chandrika Manel, a mother of four, said that she only gives her children milk and rice since vegetables are too expensive. She also said that they have to take out loans to survive since the cost of living is so high. On top of that, another mother said that her children have been suffering since she cannot even afford to buy a packet of biscuits or milk for them, and her husband only makes $10 a week. Additional factors that are not helping include the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The pandemic hit tourism while the war caused oil prices to shoot up. Pastor Moses Akash started a community kitchen in a church hall after meeting a single mother who had lived off of a jackfruit for three days. In the article, Pastor Moses said that they get people who haven’t been able to get a second plate of rice for the last four months.
Analysis:
The situation in Sri Lanka is declining as many are struggling financially and prices are going higher. People can no longer afford foods like rice, fish, apples, and sugar because of increasing prices. According to the BBC article, it says that rice went up 55% (Rs.155 → Rs.240), fish went up 134% (Rs.350 → Rs.820), apples went up 150% (Rs.80 → Rs.200), and sugar went up 190% (Rs.120 → Rs.350). If people cannot afford food, the people who are selling the food also won’t be able to have any money. Furthermore, since prices have been rising, the money used in Sri Lanka has become less valuable. This has been caused by inflation, which has been due to rising oil prices and food prices. According to a Washington Post article titled “How war in Ukraine turned Sri Lanka’s economic crisis into a calamity,” a representative of Sri Lanka said on Tuesday that the country needed to suspend international debt payments to save its dwindling dollar reserves for importing fuel and food. Both of those items are in short supply. The article also says that Diesel prices have gone up 60%. During an interview, Sabry, the finance minister until May 9, 2022, said, ‘Our import bill for essential fuel has almost doubled, particularly with the unfortunate situation in Ukraine.’ In addition, the Washington Post article says that fishermen who are supposed to go on ten-day fishing trips in bigger boats are now forced to cut the trip down to three days because diesel is very expensive and meals are going from from three to two per day.
There are bigger problems as well that come with this economic crisis. Since the value of everything is going up, the value of the money is going down, which leads to more people having less value in money. For example, somebody could have 10 apples worth of money, but now they’re worth 6 apples worth of money. This means that jobs would be paying less, which would lead to more people being in situations similar to the husband mentioned above who’s only making $10 a week. Also, since prices are going higher, it’s obvious that $10 a week won’t be enough to be able to buy essential items like food for a family. From the Washington Post article, people have been protesting. They have gathered nightly in some places such as Colombo to chant slogans against Rajapaska (former president of Sri Lanka) and honk their horns. The protests are non-hostile but they may become violent.
Call to Action:
The people of Sri Lanka are going through an extremely tough time. If you donate, it can help give food to people that really need it. There are donation links below with simple instructions on how to donate.
Donation links + instructions:
How to donate in 3 easy steps
Press the link and choose the amount of money you would like to donate.
Put in the information that it asks for.
Press “Next,” then input your payment information. For credit cards, they take Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay. You can also choose a QR Payment.
Press the link and choose the amount of money you would like to donate, either monthly or a one-time payment.
Input the information that it asks for.
Put in your payment information. Please note they only accept credit card payments.
Press the link and choose the amount of money that you would like to donate and if you would like to donate monthly or one time. (It tells you how much your donation gives in meals as well!)
You can use PayPal or put in your payment information.
Put in your billing address information, and you’re done!
