Protesters set fire to the residence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wikramasinghe in Colombo. Where the prime minister is now and whether he was in the house at the time of the arson is unknown.
Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that the country's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa notified him of his intention to leave his post on July 13.
The protesters managed to seize the presidential residence as well. According to media reports, he managed to escape. According to Ada Derana , the police fired tear gas at the protesters. As a result, 33 people were hospitalized, two are in critical condition.
The reason for the protests was the economic crisis that began in April. Experts rate it as the largest since 1948, when the country gained independence from Great Britain. Now there is no food, medicine and fuel on the island. According to the UN, four out of five inhabitants of the island are forced to skip meals due to poverty. Inflation in Sri Lanka reached 54.6%, external debt – $51 billion.
Also in Sri Lanka, there is a depletion of foreign exchange reserves, which is why it cannot buy fuel, fertilizers, food and medicine. At the end of 2019, the reserves amounted to $7.6 billion, in March 2020 – $1.93 billion, and in April 2022 – $50 million. For the first time in the history of the country, Sri Lanka was unable to pay its external debt.
