Colombo, Sri Lanka – Until a few months ago, SMS Senaratne struggled to put three meals on the table for his family.
“When the economic crisis struck the country two years ago it took away our savings, our car and our ability to feed our three children,” Senaratne, a sports merchandise seller, told Al Jazeera outside the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo earlier this week.
In between fixing his stall’s display of blue and green cricket shirts and caps, Senaratne explained how the Sri Lankan public struggled to survive during the country’s worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948.
“Our business of making and selling sports merchandise relies on the demand from sports goods stores, but ever since the economic slump came in 2021, we have not received enough orders,” he said.
Following the coronavirus pandemic, the small island nation of 22 million people was hit by fuel and food shortages as well as alarmingly high inflation over two years.
The economic crisis snowballed into a political one as mobs of mostly young Sri Lankans stormed the house of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, forcing him to flee the country and resign.
Article from www.aljazeera.com