Sri Lanka admits bankruptcy, crisis to drag through 2023: Wickremesinghe

Aims to stop printing money as inflation nears 60%; to organise donor conference of friendly nations

Sri Lanka is bankrupt and the acute pain of its unprecedented economic crisis will linger until at least the end of next year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Tuesday. The island nation’s 22 million people have endured months of galloping inflation and lengthy power cuts after the government ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods. Wickremesinghe said the once-prosperous country will go into deep recession this year and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine will continue.

This week, authorities extended a closure of schools, told public servants to work from home and limited fuel distribution to essential