The Sri Lankan rupee has plummeted to an all-time low this week as a result of the ongoing politico-economic emergency that the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is presently facing.
With this latest development, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has expressed his regrets over his country’s current political and economic crisis and vowed to take immediate action and address his mistakes.
We are interested to read and share this foreign exchange-related report about the current status of the Sri Lankan rupee with our readers. We believe this news can help them manage, especially if they hold units of Sri Lanka’s official currency.
The Sri Lankan rupee is down more than 30 percent against the US dollar. At the time of writing, US$1 is equivalent to 326.09 Sri Lankan rupees per the foreign exchange rate information posted on Xe.com.
Moreover, Sri Lanka’s official currency is lagging behind the Russian rouble. This South Asian country’s economy has collapsed due to the general economic and political crises, debt payment issues, and street protests.
Additionally, Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy. It has almost US$7 billion of its total US$25 billion in foreign debt due for repayment this 2022.
A severe foreign exchange shortage translates to Sri Lanka lacking money to buy imported goods. Weeks of demonstrations have happened in the nation over food and fuel shortages.
Protesters also demand that Rajapaksa, his politically powerful family that has held power for most of the past two decades, and his government resign. They have directed much of their public anger at the president and his elder brother, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
As the Sri Lankan rupee has dropped to a historic low, President Rajapaksa acknowledged the fact that Sri Lankans are under immense pressure at this time due to the economic crisis.
According to the update posted online by New Zealand-based news outlet 1News, the Sri Lankan leader cited that he profoundly regrets the dire situation his countrymen are subjected to at this point.
Rajapaksa affirmed that the fury, discomfort, and pain the Sri Lankan people have displayed as they are forced to wait in long queues to obtain expensive essential items are justified. He assured the citizens that the errors he committed would be corrected and that he needed to regain his constituents’ trust.
We commiserate with the Sri Lankan people who have endured months of shortages of essential products. We have learned that they have suffered because of the inadequacy of medicine, food, fuel, and cooking gas in Sri Lanka.
These people line up for hours to purchase the very limited available stocks of essential items. We understand President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and thank him for admitting his errors.
We hope that his government will work harder to help the citizens, the Sri Lankan rupee, and entire Sri Lanka recover from the severe politico-economic dilemma they are grappling with this year.