Bloomberg:Inflation Unrest Sparks Clashes at Sri Lanka President’s Home

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(Bloomberg) — Hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence, yelling slogans against surging prices and long power cuts stemming from an escalating foreign-exchange crisis.

“Go home Gota,” local TV channels showed protesters screaming at the house on the outskirts of Colombo. Tear gas and water cannons were fired after crowds broke protective barricades, while demonstrators pelted stones at the police, the Daily Mirror reported on its website.

© Photographer: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators protest of hundreds of people outside Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s home in Colombo, on March 31, 2022.Data published earlier Thursday showed inflation accelerated to about 19% in March — the highest in Asia — and authorities extended power cuts to as long as 13 hours a day. Supplies of diesel are running out and the government lacks dollars to pay for imports.

Rajapaksa is seeking a loan from the International Monetary Fund while simultaneously seeking bilateral aid from countries including China, India and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka has raised interest rates, devalued the rupee and reduced stock-trading hours in a bid to preserve electricity and foreign currency.

Sri Lanka, whose trade deficit doubled to $1.1 billion in December, had about $2.3 billion of foreign-exchange reserves in February and faces a $1 billion dollar bond repayment in July.

The IMF last month said Sri Lanka faces a “clear solvency problem” due to unsustainable debt levels, as well as persistent fiscal and balance-of-payments shorts.

Inflation Unrest Sparks Clashes at Sri Lanka President’s Home (msn.com)