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Several Sri Lankans borrowing money, spending savings
22 Feb, 2023
Several Sri Lankans have started borrowing money or are spending their savings owing to the economic crisis.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP), said that nearly seven in ten households are adopting foodbased coping strategies such as relying on less preferred food, limiting portion sizes and reducing the number of meals.
In addition, WFP said that over eight in ten households are turning to livelihood coping strategies such as borrowing money or spending savings.
Meanwhile,?2 million people have received WFP assistance since the start of the emergency response in June 2022.
WFP also said that one in three households, (33 percent) are food insecure according to WFP?s Household Food Security Survey (December 2022).
Nearly a million people have so far received WFP?s inkind food and cash assistance; a million schoolchildren have received school meals.
The Government has produced one million Thriposha packets for 500,000 women and children at risk of malnutrition, using maize and soya beans from WFP.
WFP?s Market Functionality Index for December shows that commodity prices continue to be volatile. Several markets have also reported scarcity of items including cereals.
According to the Colombo Consumer Price Index, headline inflation (year-on-year) for January 2023 was 54.2 percent, down from the 57.2 percent in December 2022. According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, inflation is expected to continue declining based on the latest macroeconomic projections. (Colombo Gazette)
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