Sri Lanka accepted a rice and pharmaceuticals shipment from neighbouring India yesterday as the island nation battles an unprecedented economic crisis that has left supermarket shelves and pharmacy cabinets empty.
India has extended $1.5 billion in credit lines to allow Sri Lanka to keep meeting a portion of its food and energy needs, and yesterday’s shipment followed a visit by Indian experts for aid talks.
An acute lack of petrol has immobilised Sri Lanka this week, with parliament cancelling two days of sittings to help conserve fuel. The United Nations last week appealed for emergency food aid for the country after a survey showed that four out of five Sri Lankans were skipping meals to cope with the unprecednted crisis.
