Sri Lanka is facing a deepening financial and humanitarian crisis, with fears it could go bankrupt this year as inflation rises to record levels, food prices rocket and its coffers run dry.
The meltdown faced by the government, led by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is in part caused by the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of tourism, but is compounded by high government spending and tax cuts eroding state revenue, vast debt repayments to China and foreign exchange reserves at their lowest levels in a decade.
Meanwhile, inflation has been spurred by the Sri Lankan government printing