Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe: Tough days ahead

The newly appointed Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made his first official address to the nation on May 16. He assumed charge on May 12. In his televised address he laid out some home truths. He warned citizens of more hardships as the country is short on fuel, cooking gas and experiencing 15-hour power cuts. PM proposed a "new alternative budget", privatisation of Sri Lankan Airlines and printing more money as measures to combat the crisis. Sri Lanka's revenue for the year 2022 stood at LKR 1.6 trillion, whereas the total expenditure estimated is 4 trillion. The ground realities are troubling. People in Sri Lanka are spending days, sometimes nights in queues in the hope of getting fuel. Sri Lanka is staring into months of hardship. Reaching back to the state of normalcy could be an uphill task for the country.