MINUWANGODA in Sri Lanka (Reuters – Thusitha Hadaragama sat at a corner grocery near his Minuwangoda home this week. There he surveyed groceries for the family of five. This includes two children who are school age. They live off his monthly salary ($181.82).

Prices have risen again. The driver of 43 years old, Colombo is 40km away and works as a commercial driver in Sri Lanka. We will need to eat twice as much food than we had before.

Sri Lankan families such as Hadaragama are suffering from the worsening economic crisis that has hit the country in recent years. It has pushed up the cost of basic necessities and caused shortages of food and fuel.

The economy has been hit hard by historically weak government finances and poorly timed tax cuts.

The country has foreign reserves left of around $2.31 trillion as of February. However, it is still facing debt payments of approximately $4 billion for the remainder of the year.

Dhananath Fong, chief operating officer at Advocata Institute in Colombo said that the reason behind the shortages was not the lack of any commodity.

After months of resistance, the government of Sri Lanka last week announced that it will begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to help end the crisis.

This country, home to 22 million people, has sought help from India and China.

Everyday chores for Sri Lankans can be a struggle. Hadaragama must now stand in lengthy queues to fill his bike with petrol, and he has to pay twice as much for one litre than he did three months ago.

Varuni Varuni has reduced the amount of food she prepares at home for her two teenage sons and one daughter.

She said, “Earlier I had three potatoes.” She said, “Now I only make two.”

($1 = 275.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)