Sri Lanka is seeking financial help from IMF, China and India
Sri Lanka will need $5 billion over the next six months to ensure basic living standards.
The crisis-hit country is renegotiating the terms of a yuan-denominated swap worth $1.5 billion with China so as to fund essential imports, the prime minister said.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are seeking about $6 billion in aid over six months from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and countries including China and India.
Sri Lanka will need about $3.3 billion for fuel imports, $900 million for food, $250 million for cooking gas and $600 million more for fertilizer this year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament.
The island nation is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades led to a shortage of foreign exchange that stalled imports of essential items such as fuel, medicine and food, triggering street protests, currency devaluation and a change of government.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pledged to finish the remaining two years of his term despite months-long street protests calling for his ouster with slogans of “Gota Go Home”.
Protesters blame Rajapaksa and his family for decisions that led to severe shortages of fuel, food to medicine, stoking inflation to 40% and causing a historic debt default.