[Global Times Special Correspondent in Sri Lanka Wang Yiyi] "The next few months will be the most difficult for all (Sri Lanka) citizens, and the country must make sacrifices and face the challenges of this period." Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe made a televised speech to the public on the evening of the 16th, saying that the situation in the country is already very dire.
In his speech, Wickremesinghe said that at present, the Sri Lankan economy is extremely unstable, and the budget deficit is expected to be 2.4 trillion rupees this year - a figure equivalent to 13% of GDP.
Not only that, Sri Lanka's current foreign exchange reserves are already extremely low.
"Today, it's a challenge for the Treasury Department to find $1 million," Wickremesinghe said.
At present, a quarter of Sri Lanka's power generation depends on oil, but because there is no foreign exchange to buy oil, the country may face power outages of 15 hours a day in the future.
In addition, Sri Lanka has only one day of gasoline left in stock.
According to news from the Sri Lankan President's Media Office on the 16th, the whole of Sri Lanka entered a state of curfew again from 11:00 p.m. that day to 5:00 p.m. on the 17th.
According to a previous report by Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, Sri Lanka lifted its curfew on May 15, allowing people to celebrate the Buddhist festival Vesak.