• Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament that Sri Lanka is bankrupt.
• He predicted that the once-prosperous nation will enter a deep recession this year and that severe food, fuel, and medical shortages will persist.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on Tuesday that Sri Lanka is bankrupt and that the excruciating pain of its unparalleled economic crisis will persist until at least the end of next year.

Since the government ran out of foreign currency to import essential goods, the island nation’s 22 million people have had to deal with rising prices and long power outages for months.

Wickremesinghe predicted that the once-prosperous nation will enter a deep recession this year and that severe food, fuel, and medical shortages will persist.

The premier stated, “We will encounter difficulties in 2023 as well.” “This is the actuality. These are the facts.“

He stated that the continuing bailout negotiations between Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund depend on the completion of a debt restructuring plan with creditors by August.

Wickremesinghe stated, “We are now engaged in the negotiations as a bankrupt nation.”

“Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to them separately. Only when (the IMF) are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement.“

The IMF stated last week that the nation’s finances and out-of-control fiscal deficit must be stabilised before a funding agreement can be reached to address its balance of payments crisis.

Sri Lanka is almost entirely out of gasoline, and the government has shut down non-essential public services in an effort to conserve petroleum.

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