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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called for urgent international assistance amid the acute financial crisis in the South Asian country, BTA reports.

"We are currently facing a severe economic crisis that has deeply affected the lives of all Sri Lankans and is leading to social unrest," Rajapaksa said in a video address at an international conference in Tokyo.

Sri Lanka is collapsing

We urgently need the help of our friends in the international community to ensure that our basic needs, such as the need for medicines and food supplies, are met, Rajapaksa also said. 

For months, Sri Lankans have been suffering from a shortage of basic necessities due to a lack of foreign currency to pay for imports of products and raw materials.

Against this background, the government has stopped paying off the country's foreign debt.

The economic crisis has also sparked political turmoil after protesters demanded the president's resignation. 

In a statement at the Future of Asia conference hosted by Japan's Nikkei Inc., Rajapaksa blamed the economic crisis on the shutdown of the Sri Lankan tourism industry and a sharp drop in cash incomes. overseas citizens as a result of the pandemic and rising global inflation.


Other nations could also be affected by the "long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic", Rajapaksa warned, adding that supporting these vulnerable nations in their difficulties is essential for regional as well as global stability.

financial crisis

Sri Lanka