Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Sri Lanka: 'I can’t afford milk for my babies'
Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in seven
decades after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, with
dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine, and
fuel. As the Prime Minister admitted, the country is "bankrupt," fuel
reserve is less than scarce, food prices skyrocketed, and nearly no medicine is
left in hospitals. In fact, food prices jumped 80% in June alone, leaving many people
no choice but to line up for charity food providers and churches. For hospitals,
the only suppliers of essential medicines and equipment are donors. What had
caused this economic turmoil? Over-tax cuts to gain popularity and over-borrowing
from China to invest in infrastructure were to blame. Also, the Coronavirus
pandemic hit the tourism businesses from abroad badly. The problem is that
there is no way out of this economic turmoil as the country has no money to pay
anyone for anything. It is feared that babies and young children, in
particular, are becoming malnourished, which could affect their healthy growth.
Read the article and learn about how disastrous Sri Lanka’s state of the
economy is.
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