Protests have erupted in Colombo against Rajapakse. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand Rajapakse’s immediate resignation.
Record: March 17, 2022 10:34
AM
Colombo,
The Sri Lankan government is in deep economic crisis. The Sri Lankan government is unable to import crude oil due to lack of foreign exchange reserves. As a result, petrol and diesel prices have skyrocketed across the country.
In this situation, it is not possible to import Qias from abroad. As a result, Sri Lanka’s largest giants such as Litro Gas and Lox Gas have been shut down.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa arrived in Delhi yesterday. He met Prime Minister Modi at the Parliament premises. Basil Rajapaksa thanked the Prime Minister for the financial assistance provided by India to Sri Lanka and called for the forthcoming PIMSTEC Conference to be held in Sri Lanka on the 30th. Following this, Basil Rajapaksa met with Foreign Secretary Harshavardhan Shringla and various officials.
So far this year, India has provided $ 1.40 billion in assistance to Sri Lanka.
In Sri Lanka, with rising fuel, food and essential commodities prices, many hours of daily power cuts are gripping the country. The government has devalued the Sri Lankan rupee by 36 percent to cope with the financial crisis. Thus the prices of essential commodities have gone up.
There is a level not seen even during the war. The price of rice is 448 Sri Lankan rupees per kg (128 Indian rupees). The price of a liter of milk is Rs. 263 (Rs. 75 Indian Rupees).
Essentials have also reached heights beyond the reach of the people. For example, the price of a single egg is staggering Rs. The price of an apple ‘crushes’ to Rs.150. Pepper has touched Rs.900 per kg. The prices of milk, wheat flour, sugar and pulses are skyrocketing.
Petrol is priced at Rs 283 a liter and diesel at Rs 176 a liter. Due to this many vehicles have been sidelined on the road. Bus owners’ associations have warned of an increase in bus fares.
Many restaurants and bakeries are closing due to shortage of cooking gas. For this reason, its owners’ association has announced the closure of restaurants from today.
The price of gold has also gone up to Rs 1 lakh 50 thousand per razor. This is the highest rise in history.
With the Sri Lankan rupee depreciating to 260 against the dollar, prices of all goods and services are at risk of rising 29 percent. Sri Lanka is trying to overcome the situation by borrowing from India, China and the International Monetary Fund.
In this situation, people are engaged in a struggle against the President condemning the increase in prices. A protest is taking place in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo demanding the immediate resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
Protests have erupted in Colombo against Rajapakse. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding Rajapaksa’s immediate resignation. The protest is being led by the opposition United People’s Freedom Alliance.