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Sri Lankans Turn to Social Media as the Crisis Worsens

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Sri Lankans Turn to Social Media as the Crisis Worsens

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01JUN2022 - Thomson Reuters Foundation News

Devastated by a lack of tourism, rising oil prices, and populist tax cuts, Sri Lanka has turned to social media for assistance from other countries. Nadeeka Jayasinghe, co-founder of Community Meal Share, explained that "Social media helped us to expand immensely - more than 80% of our funds come through well-wishers on social media." Half the Sri Lankan population are internet users with over 7 million on Facebook and 300,000 on Twitter. A combination of these two social media applications, Instagram, and WhatsApp, funding continues to come through for Sri Lankan residents.

I think this is a super interesting and innovative way of receiving funding that is easy to share. It is no secret that social media dominates the world and any news or fundraiser can be sent to millions of people within seconds.

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13JUL2022 - NPR

The Sri Lanka president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, announced his resignation and fled the country after months of turmoil. Bankruptcy, lack of daily essentials, political corruption, and economic stability surge across the small island country in South Asia. The government debt exceeds $50 billion and is unable to make interest payments. In April 2021, Rajapaksa abruptly banned imports of chemical fertilizers to push for organic farming. This decimated staple rice crops and led to the largest tax cuts in Sri Lankan history. Negotiations with the IMF on a bailout plan are in the works.

It saddens me to hear about the lack of daily essentials that is affecting people from all over Sri Lanka. Especially knowing a cadet at USCGA from Sri Lanka and his struggles hits home. I hope the IMF is capable of pulling Sri Lanka out of this crisis and get them back on their feet.

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14JUL2022 - Daily Beast

After escaping mass protests, Sri Lankan President Gotobaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives islands where he was met with nothing new. Dozens of protesters rallied in the nation's capital, Malé, to protest the government's decision to host Rajapaksa.

The Daily Beast is an American news website that covers news on politics, media, and pop culture. Based on the interactive media chart, it has a reliability of 35.71 and a bias of -13.64. Though there was a lot of aggressive and direct quotes from Sri Lanka's opposition party, the article covered the same information as other news articles that are not as bias. I would not rely only on the Daily Beast to get a balanced understanding on general topics.

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31AUG2022 - Aljazeera

Decline in living standards spread fast around Sri Lanka. According to the UN, more than 25% of the population of 22 million now struggles to secure nutritious food. The new President Ranil Wickremesinghe continues to work on a multibillion-dollar bailout through the IMF and is tapping key allies from India, Japan, and the United States. This is a slow process that may take a couple months.

Aljazeera provided numerous pictures on the conditions of many local residents that feed off the crumbs of society. The quarter of the population that is struggling to find daily essentials is desperate for money from the IMF yet it is a slow process that may take months to be complete. Reading this news article, headquartered in the Middle East, was not too different from news channels headquartered in the United States. Aljazeera is a owned by Qatar and is a "private foundation for public benefit" under Qatari law. Funding sources from the Qatar government.

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01SEP2022 - Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka and the IMF have reached a preliminary agreement on an emergency loan of $2.9 billion. This was conducted between an IMF team and Sri Lankan government officials in Sri Lanka.

This is a huge step in the right direction for the citizens of Sri Lanka. I am hoping this money can be utilized efficiently and that the right people get what they need. The country of Sri Lanka is far from being restored but this emergency loan will most definitely help. Daily Mirror was founded by Alfred Harmsworth and is based in London.

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Sri Lanka Wins T20 Cricket Asia Cup Final

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Sri Lanka Wins T20 Cricket Asia Cup Final

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11SEP2022 - Aljazeera

Despite all odds, Sri Lanka pulls through to win the T20 Cricket Asia Cup Final. The championship match was suppose to be held in Sri Lanka but was forced to move as a result of the ongoing political and economic crisis.

Although this news might not be in the interest for monetary funding or political correction in Sri Lanka, I think this championship win will bring hope and morale to the people of Sri Lanka. This win gives the people something to bond over and celebrate amidst all the tragedies going on.

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13SEP2022 - Daily FT

30% of the population (6.3 million) now experience acute food insecurity and will likely worsen. 60% of families are eating less, cheaper, and less nutritious food. The joint Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission recently visited all 25 districts in the country between June and July to analyze agricultural productivity. The crisis has caused acute shortages and spikes in prices of essential products, nonetheless.

Daily FT is Sri Lanka's first and only national daily business paper. It caters to the new economy of post-war Sri Lanka with a focus on local and global politics, business, social issues, sports and lifestyle. Reading this local news article was not too different from the Daily Mirror. I researched more into the Daily FT and found that they are a newspaper published in Colombo, Sri Lanka by Wijeya Newspapers. This is the sister newspaper to the Daily Mirror.

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22SEP2022 - BBC

With food prices rising 84.6% in the past year, the Central bank of Sri Lanka said the country's inflation rate has increased to 70%. A combination of years of financial mismanagement and tourism being closed off, Sri Lanka has been defaulting on its debts earlier this year. India has previously provided close to $4 billion in financial aid to Sri Lanka. They also deferred payment on Sri Lankan imports of about $1.2 billion and offered a credit line of $55 million for fertilizer imports.

The British Broadcasting Corporation is the national broadcaster of the UK and is headquartered in London. This article did a great job of providing facts and statistics on how the economy is reacting to the Sri Lankan crisis. I liked how clearly the article describes the rise in certain economic factors and the reasons why inflation has risen so much.

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Sri Lanka's annual inflation rate surged to more than 70% in August as it struggles with its worst economic crisis in over seven decades.

Official data also showed food prices rose by 84.6% compared to a year ago.

The South Asian nation of 22m people was plunged into financial and political chaos this year as it faced a shortage of foreign currencies.

The country has been unable to afford key imports - including fuel, fertiliser and medicine.

Last month, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said it expected inflation to ease, as the country's economy slowed, after peaking at about 70%.

Official figures released last week showed that the economy had contracted by 8.4% in the three months to the end of August.

Before the pandemic, Sri Lanka was heavily reliant on tourism for foreign currencies, including the US dollar.

However, border closures aimed to slow the spread of Covid-19 kept tourists away and took a major toll on the country's economy.

That, along with years of financial mismanagement, led to Sri Lanka defaulting on its debts earlier this year.

Sri Lanka has faced political upheaval in recent months, with the country's president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing abroad before resigning in July.

That came as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, in protests that often turned violent, over a sharp increase in food and fuel prices.

Many Sri Lankans blamed Mr Rajapaksa's administration for mishandling the crisis.

Financial help

Earlier this month, Sri Lanka reached a preliminary deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $2.9bn (£2.6bn) loan. However, the agreement hinges on the country also receiving funds from private creditors.

On Tuesday, India said it had started talks with Sri Lanka on restructuring its debt and said it would also offer long-term investments. India previously provided almost $4bn in financial aid to its smaller neighbour.

India also deferred payment on Sri Lankan imports of about $1.2bn and offered a credit line of $55m for fertiliser imports.

Sri Lankan government officials are due to meet creditors on Friday, to discuss the extent of the country's economic problems and a proposal to restructure its debts.

Analysis by Arunoday Mukharji, India business correspondent

Sri Lanka is among the 10 countries around the world with the highest food inflation.

Experts have warned that rising food prices mean that economic woes for Sri Lankans will continue for some time to come.

Food security remains a huge concern for the country, especially because fertiliser shortages - due to a lack of foreign currencies - have significantly affected agricultural production. According to some estimates food production has nearly halved.

The country's shrinking reserves of foreign exchange also means that buying large amounts of food from abroad is also not an option.

Earlier this week, the UN's World Food Programme said: "the situation could deteriorate further in the coming months without urgent assistance".

As part of its programme to help Sri Lanka, the first batch of 600 tonnes of rice worth $15m has arrived from Australia.

It is part of a larger consignment of rice, pulses and cooking oil which is due to reach the country soon.

The aim is to help around 3.4m people who are worst affected in the country of the 22m.

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Sri Lanka: Inflation rate jumps to 70.2% in August

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Sri Lanka's annual inflation rate surged to more than 70% in August as it struggles with its worst economic crisis in over seven decades. Official data also showed food prices rose by 84.6% compared to a year ago. The South Asian nation of 22m people was plunged into financial and political chaos this year as it faced a shortage of foreign currencies.