Sri Lanka’s teetering finances were dealt another blow this year when war in Europe sent global fuel and food prices surging, turning the small country’s uphill economic struggle into something insurmountable.
Shoppers buy groceries at Wellawatte Market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 12, as the country warned of an unprecedented default and halted payments on its foreign debt. MORATUWA, Sri Lanka — Life for Hasun Peiris began to unravel a year ago under the pull of powerful forces he didn’t understand.
As Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves fell dangerously in February, the country negotiated a $500 million credit line with India to import oil, which not only powers transportation and industry across the island but also accounts for 40 percent of its electricity generation. That credit line will already be exhausted by this month, said finance minister Ali Sabry, who is seeking more emergency financing from India and other governments.
Jay Tissera, a 28-year old graphic designer, took a break from protesting outside the presidential office on a recent afternoon and smoked with his friends — a computer programmer and a journalist — in the shadow of a seaside tower that boasted $1.4 million apartments with sweeping views of the Indian Ocean and interiors designed by a French architect.
“Those protests are now calm and collected but they might quickly take a different direction,” he said. Wickramaratne shook his head, then waved away the thought. “I don’t even want to imagine it,” he said.For many across the capital and on its outskirts, desperation is already setting in.