Sri Lanka’s currency has plunged to a record low to become the world’s worst-performing currency, lagging even Russia’s rouble, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa struggles to contain a worsening economic and political crisis.
The Sri Lankan rupee was hovering near SLRs300 per US dollar on Wednesday, down 32 per cent year to date after Rajapaksa ended emergency rule just days after it was imposed following a mass resignation of politicians.
Sri Lanka is facing a foreign exchange crisis as its government grapples with looming debt payments, widespread protests and an economic emergency. The backpedal on the emergency decree from Rajapaksa’s government came after his new finance minister, Ali Sabry, quit less than 24 hours into the job.