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Highlights
- Sri Lanka's political and economic crisis has now turned into a national emergency with a critical level of food, health, fuel, and power supply
- On Monday, Australia announced to provide AU$50 million as Official Development Assistance to Sri Lanka
- Also, Australia has given AU$5 million to the United Nations for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's economic crisis is worsening with each passing day, with diminishing medical stocks and other basic goods. What began as a political and economic crisis has now become a national emergency with a critical level of food, health, fuel and power supply.
With the nation's currency dropping to a lower value and the cost of living going through the roof, more and more people in the country cannot afford or access essential items and services. According to media reports, the government has run out of foreign reserves and is reaching a breaking point.
Australia to donate AU$50 million
Image source: ©2022 Kalkine Media®
On Monday, Australia announced to provide AU$50 million as Official Development Assistance to Sri Lanka. The amount is for helping Sri Lanka to meet urgent food and healthcare needs.
In a media release, the foreign minister of Australia mentioned the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
On an immediate basis, Australia will contribute AU$22 million to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs. In addition, it will provide AU$23 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23. Recently, Australia had also provided AU$5 million to the United Nations agencies for Sri Lanka.
Australia's Foreign Minister Hon Penny Wong said, "Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, but there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues."
Also read: Political unrest in Sri Lanka amid rising economic turmoil