Sri Lanka crisis: in depth

As Sri Lanka is in the grips of one of its worst economic meltdowns in history, let’s take a look at what is happening on the ground.

Protesters cheer as they leave prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office building in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, July 14, 2022. Sri Lankan protesters began to retreat from government buildings they seized and military troops reinforced security at the Parliament on Thursday, establishing a tenuous calm in a country in both economic meltdown and political limbo. | Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is aggravating rapidly, putting citizens through enormous hardship.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 14, 2022 sent his resignation letter. Mr. Gotabaya will be the last of the Rajapaksas to resign from office, following his brothers, including former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stepped down earlier in the wake of raging opposition to the ruling clan. The unprecedented resistance to the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka’s most formidable political brand for over 15 years, has decisively eliminated the first family from political prominence for the near future. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka’s acting President on July 13, 2022. The announcement came even as enraged protesters overran the Premier’s office in Colombo, in the midst of persisting agitations against the leader, now as unpopular as the President

India and China have extended emergency assistance by way of loans and currency swaps, but Sri Lanka is still on the edge.