<h5>What is Sri Lanka’s history?</h5>  <p>Sri Lanka is a tiny island nation on the Indian Ocean that lies off the coast of South India. It’s a beautiful country filled with beaches, mountains, and greenery. It’s so gorgeous that people from all over the world come to visit it. That’s why tourism is the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy.</p>
<p>
However, the tiny nation has experienced immense loss for a long time. From 1983 to 2009 (that’s 26 years!), Sri Lanka was going through a civil war. Once the war got over, Sri Lanka recovered from the war and became a progressing nation. Many people thought that Sri Lanka would become like Singapore, another tiny but super-wealthy island nation.
</p> <h5>So, what’s going on in Sri Lanka today?</h5>  <p>Since September 2021, Sri Lanka has been in an awful economic crisis, but things have gotten really bad now. People can’t afford essentials like food and medicine. All the street lights across the country have been shut off. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Sri Lankans have no electricity for about 13 hours a day because the government has run out of fuel. Students can’t sit to write their exams and newspapers have stopped printing because there’s no money for paper and ink.</p>
<p>The people of Sri Lanka started protesting against the government to express their anger. In response, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an emergency in the country to shut down the protests. This allowed the police and army to arrest whomsoever they wanted without any trial (basically the opposite of how things are done in a democracy).</p> <h5>How did things get so bad?</h5>  <p>The government made some bad decisions. Some bad things happened in the world. The unlucky thing is that they all happened at the same time. Let’s see what they were:
1. The government took money from many countries, including China, to build roads, bridges, and other development infrastructure. But it has no money to pay them back.
2. A big chunk of Sri Lanka’s money comes from tourism. Since the pandemic, tourists have stopped visiting the country.</p>
<p>3. The Russia-Ukraine war has made the price of fuel very expensive. The cash-strapped government can’t buy it and citizens have to live without electricity for most of the day as a result.</p>
<p>4. The President of Sri Lanka reduced the taxes that citizens have to pay as soon as he won the elections in 2019 to make his voters happy. But this backfired as the government doesn’t have the money it needs to run the country.
</p> <h5>How are India and other countries helping out?</h5>  <p>India loaned Sri Lanka $1.5 billion that it doesn’t have to pay back anytime soon. China donated one million tons of rice because of the extreme food shortage there. The Sri Lankan government is getting ready to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help. The IMF is an international organisation consisting of 190 countries that promotes trade and cooperation among countries around the world.
</p> <h5>So, will giving Sri Lanka a lot of money solve its problem?</h5> <figure>
        <img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/why-is-sri-lanka-going-through-a-difficult-time%2Funawatuna.jpeg?alt=media&token=4a72745d-d639-4b9f-9985-189c05e3a784" alt="So, will giving Sri Lanka a lot of money solve its problem?" >
        <figcaption>Unawatuna Beach, one of the most famous tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. Photo by Bernard Gagnon / CC BY-SA 2.5.; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Unawatuna.jpg</figcaption>
      </figure> <p>No, these are all band-aid solutions, not the real answer. Real change will come when two things happen: (i) the government makes better financial decisions; and (ii) tourists start visiting Sri Lanka again.</p>
<p>This is the worst crisis Sri Lanka has faced since it gained independence in 1948, even worse than the 26 years long war it went through. But Sri Lankans are resilient and strong. They will overcome this challenge before long.
</p>

No electricity, food, medicines or fuel. What’s going on in Sri Lanka and how did things get so bad? Let’s find out.


Why Is Sri Lanka Going Through A Difficult Time?

Hootcoins for this article have expired!

What Was Canada’s Truckers’ Protest About?

Black Lives Matter - What Is It About?

Why Is Sri Lanka Going Through A Difficult Time?

Hootcoins for this article have expired!

Did you read these articles?

What Was Canada’s Truckers’ Protest About?

Black Lives Matter - What Is It About?