As Sri Lanka stares at severe Economic crisis, Centre to hold all-party meet on July 19

As Sri Lanka continues to face a major political and economic crisis, the Central Government is set to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the situation in the neighbouring island country on Tuesday, July 19. It is worth mentioning that political parties like DMK and AIADMK have demanded that India must intervene in the Sri Lanka crisis issue, especially due to the Tamil community suffering in the crisis-torn nation. Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka ahead of July 20 Presidential election. 

On July 17, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had informed that during the all-party meeting that will be held on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will brief leaders of various political parties on the Sri Lankan crisis.

Meanwhile, India has emerged as the top lender to Sri Lanka, extending USD 376.9 million worth credit compared to USD 67.9 million by China in the first four months of this year to rescue the island nation from the unprecedented political crisis and economic turmoil. Loans from India with USD 376.9 million were the highest foreign financing disbursements during the period of January 1 to April 30, 2022, according to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry.

After India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) came in as the second largest lender with USD 359.6 million being disbursed in the first four months, followed by the World Bank with USD 67.3 million. The total foreign financing disbursements made during the period amounted to USD 968.8 million, of which, USD 968.1 million was disbursed as loans while USD 0.7 million was disbursed by way of grants.

Sri Lankan crisis

The island country has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. The country has huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and has been struggling to pay for imports, causing a shortage of essentials for the public. Meanwhile, citizens in the country have been forced to stand in long queues for fuel, cooking gas, and medicines. Earlier in the month of May, the Sri Lankan police arrested at least 137 people for illegally storing petrol, diesel, and kerosene across the country. 

Image: AP, PTI