Sri Lanka declared a national state of emergency a few hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled (to the Maldives).

"Since the president is out of the country, a state of emergency has been declared to manage the situation in the country," said a spokesman for the premier, Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed acting president.

Four days ago, thousands of demonstrators stormed the residence of Rajapaksa, believed to be responsible for the dramatic economic crisis in which the country finds itself .

The rise in inflation in recent months has led not only to the rise in prices, but also to a serious shortage of food, drugs and fuel . Authorities suspended the sale of gasoline and diesel for non-essential vehicles last week in an effort to preserve plummeting inventories. Continuous blackouts are recorded throughout the country.

The government has requested emergency financial aid from the International Monetary Fund, blaming the collapse of tourism and the lack of foreign currency to the pandemic. But for national analysts these are excuses: the fault lies solely with poor economic management .

(Unioneonline / D)

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