People selling home ornaments to buy food grains in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's plight can also be gauged from the fact that people have been forced to sell household ornaments to buy food grains and other essential daily items. Several traders at Colombo Gold Centre, Colombo's biggest bullion market, said people were forced to sell jewelry to buy daily supplies. According to businessman Silva, 'We have never seen such a crisis before in Sri Lanka. After the historic fall in the value of the Sri Lankan currency, the number of jewelry buyers has become very less and sellers more.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic and political crisis since its independence in 1948. Sri Lankan Rupee has become the weakest performing currency. The price of one Sri Lankan rupee on Saturday was $315. Private money exchanges are then charging up to 345-380 Sri Lankan rupees for a dollar. The price of 24 carat gold has reached 2.05 lakh Sri Lankan rupees.

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Ali Sabri said on Saturday that the country would need $3 billion in aid over the next six months to tide over the economic crisis and repair the supply chain of essential supplies. He said, 'It is a very difficult job.' In a special conversation with Reuters, Sabri said, 'We are ready to talk to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).