(CNN)Sri Lanka'seconomy has "completely collapsed"Prime Minister Lanilwiklamasha On Wednesday,said a crisis-stricken country faced an increasingly dire situation, with millions of people suffering from fuel, electricity and food shortages.
"Our economy is facing a complete collapse," Wickremesinghe told the Sri Lankan parliament, and the government has helped global partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize the economy. He added that he was looking for it.
However, Wickremesinghe warned that 22 million island nations were "faced with a much more serious situation" beyond the shortage.
In some major cities, including the commercial capital Colombo, hundreds of people continue to queue for hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military. ..
Trains are less frequent, and travelers are forced into compartments while commuting, even forced to sit erratically on them.
Patients cannot go to the hospital due to lack of fuel and soaring food prices. Rice, a staple of South Asian countries, has disappeared from the shelves of many stores and supermarkets.
According to police officials, 11 people died in line waiting for fuel this week alone.
Wickremesinghe, who took office after violent protests resigned his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, appears to have blamed the previous administration for the country's situation in a comment Wednesday.
"It's not easy to revive a country whose economy has completely collapsed, especially ones with dangerously low foreign exchange reserves," he said. "At least initially, if measures were taken to delay the collapse of the economy, we would not have faced this difficult situation today."
"We have asked our Indian counterparts for more lending support, but even India cannot continue to support us in this way," he said. rice field.
He said the next step was to sign an agreement with the IMF.
"This is our only option. We have to follow this path. Our aim is to discuss with the IMF and reach an agreement to obtain an additional line of credit. To reach, "said Wickremesinghe.
He added that Sri Lanka is currently discussing "securing mid-term and short-term loans" with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the United States until with the support of the IMF.
He said a US Treasury national team will arrive in Sri Lanka next week.
In addition, Sri Lanka will seek support from both China and Japan, the "major lenders," Wickremesinghe added.
"If we receive the IMF's seal of approval, the world will trust us again," he said. "It will help us secure loan assistance as well as low interest rate loans from other countries in the world."
