Some 34% of Sri Lankans have resorted to these practices, while 45% of those who pawned their jewelery or three-wheelers have been unable to redeem it. Some families have committed suicide after mortgaging their homes, and many students drop out of college. The government has announced a restructuring of the internal debt.
Colombo () – With inflation at 80% and the high cost of basic necessities, Sri Lankans are forced to sell many of their possessions, including household furniture, to buy food and essential medicines. According to some surveys, around 34% of Sri Lankans have resorted to these practices and 45% of those who pawned their jewelery or three-wheelers were unable to redeem it.
In many areas of Sri Lanka there are trucks that go from city to city to buy furniture for the houses (in good condition) and then resell it. Until a few months ago this was common in the cities, where life is more expensive, but now it has also spread to the villages, where people tend to sell even the table or chairs and now eat sitting on a mat or on a table. soil.
Some people have also illegally borrowed money to pay for services and buy food. Several families in Jaffna, Hatton and Galle recently committed suicide because they had mortgaged their houses and had nowhere else to live. Despite the intervention of non-governmental organizations and social workers, it is impossible to help everyone.
Sri Lanka has been in a severe economic crisis since March 2022.
Economic analyst Chandima Tennakoon explained to that “several factors, such as rising debt and political mismanagement, have led to this situation. No measures have been taken to control inflation. Outside of wealthy families and politicians, millions of citizens, regardless of their social class, have been affected by this situation. Before 2022, people belonging to the middle class could handle household expenses without too many problems. But right now they are the most affected. Low-income people could borrow money from middle-class people, but now the situation for low-income people is very sad.”
Professor Ruwan Dissanayaka adds that “when food inflation reached 80% in June this year, some six million Sri Lankans became food insecure. From salt to rice, all staples were They’ve gotten expensive.” In addition, he added, “many students at our university are no longer attending classes and some have given up on the dream of higher education because their parents cannot afford it. Most of them come from rural areas and right now their parents have no income and are applying for loans to cover daily expenses.
“In the last few months alone, 20 students from our faculty have reported that they have decided to abandon their studies,” continues the professor. “Some have decided to start working as farmers in their villages, while others have decided to go to the Middle East as laborers. The parents of some students lost their jobs because many factories have closed, especially clothing. Consequently, they cannot feed their family, with younger siblings. In previous years, many professors in our college contributed to a small fund to help students with financial difficulties, but now we can’t do it either due to the high cost of living.”
A few days ago, the Sri Lankan government announced that it will implement a restructuring of its internal debt to achieve the objectives set by the International Monetary Fund. Due to the shortage of foreign currency, in May of last year the country had to declare default on its foreign debt. The Fund is now expected to provide $2.9 billion to reduce total debt to 95% of gross domestic product by 2032.
