Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in 70 years has prompted mass protests against the government.
In recent days, thousands of Sri Lankans haveThe island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948 and is facing food shortages, soaring prices and power cuts.Sri Lanka's problems come down to the fact that its foreign currency reserves have virtually run dry.
It also says tourists were frightened off by a series of deadly bomb attacks on churches three years ago.Image caption, The government also racked up huge amounts of debt to fund what critics have called unnecessary infrastructure projects. Since then, the government has banned the import of a wide range of "non-essential" items - from cars to certain types of food and even shoes.
The government would like to make new finance deals to settle its debts, but its credit rating has fallen so low that very few institutions will lend it money. As a result, it has been running down its foreign reserves simply to pay the interest on the current loans.Mass protests flared up in early April with people calling for President Rajapaksa to resign, which he has refused to do.
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