The United Nations will organize a worldwide public appeal on Thursday, seeking support to provide humanitarian assistance to crisis-hit Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament on Tuesday.  Speaking in Parliament, he said “Many representatives of these countries and international organizations have agreed to support our country during this difficult time.” For food security the UN will provide over $48 million, he said.

Faced with an unprecedented economic crisis, Sri Lanka has been seeing an acute shortage of food, fuel, and medicines. Inflation has crossed 40 percent in the last few months. The country has declared default on all of its external loans, totaling around $51 billion.

India, one of its closest partners, has provided assistance worth over $3 billion, including medicines and other essentials. The country has made similar aid requests to China. 

Currently, the government is engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for assistance and loan restructuring talks. On Tuesday, Wickremesinghe said the country would require $5 billion for daily operations and $1 billion to maintain foreign exchange reserves for the next six months.

Last week, he held discussions with officials of two agencies of the United Nations, seeking assistance to mitigate the food crisis. In the same week, top officials of the island country had warned of a severe food crisis in the coming months as production is likely to be hit by the shortage of fertilizer.

After taking power, the new government of Ranil Wickremesinghe has been reaching out to the international community. The relative political stability that his government has brought following the resignation of the previous government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has also boosted the confidence of the international community.

Despite the popular protests, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has refused to resign. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, he said he had been given a mandate for five years so he will complete the two remaining years of his term.

(SAM)