Rice Rs 220/kg, milk powder Rs 1900/kg: Scenes from a grocery store in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

India Today visited a grocery store in capital Colombo to see how a lot Sri Lankans must shell out for his or her day by day groceries. Buying staples like rice, wheat and greens is burning a gap in peoples’ wallets.

Sri Lankans crowd exterior a grocery retailer in Colombo, Sri Lanka (PTI photograph)

Soaring inflation and a weakened foreign money has despatched costs of primary items skyrocketing in Sri Lanka. In the throes of an unprecedented financial meltdown, folks within the island nation are queuing up for hours to purchase gasoline, meals and medicines. More usually than not, many go away empty-handed. Either the store’s run out of products, or their cash has.

India Today visited a grocery store in capital Colombo to see how a lot Sri Lankans must shell out for his or her day by day groceries. The costs of greens have doubled in current weeks, whereas staples like rice and wheat have been being bought for Rs 220 per kg and Rs 190 per kg, respectively.

A kilogram of sugar was going for Rs 240, whereas coconut oil was out there for a whopping Rs 850 per litre. A single egg prices Rs 30. Even extra unbelievably, a 1 kg pack of milk powder now retails for Rs 1900.

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Sri Lanka’s retail inflation has already hit 17.5 per cent in February and meals inflation has risen over 25 per cent, resulting in extremely inflated meals and cereal costs. There can also be a serious scarcity of medicines and milk powder.

In the wake of the disaster, public anger has been mounting towards the federal government. Protests have erupted in lots of pockets of the nation, together with the capital, with agitators blaming the Rajapaksa regime for shortages of important items and lengthy energy outages.

In a bid to quell the widespread unrest, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency, adopted by a 36-hour-long curfew amid requires mass anti-government protests.