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Oct 2022
19m 30s

Sri Lanka: Life after an economic crisis

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In April 2022, Sri Lanka was gripped by a major economic crisis. Prices were rising sharply, protests started in the capital, Colombo,and spread across the country.

Daily power cuts and shortages of basics such as fuel, food and medicines were commonplace.

Inflation was running at more than 50%.

In July, after months of unrest, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country.

Three months on, Rahul Tandon asks whether Sri Lanka's economic situation has improved, and explores how the country could improve its fortunes - when everyone wants to leave.

Rahul hears from people in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, where there are queues for the passport office, a Colombo business owner, and a Sri Lankan academic now living in the UK who says she's not going back.

Presented and produced by Rahul Tandon.

(Image: Sri Lankan tea seller in the rain. Credit: Getty)

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