As Sri Lanka continues to sink hopelessly into the worst economic crisis in memory, the country’s Catholic Bishops are calling for unity among politicians to save the nation from becoming a failed state. The country of some 22 million is facing its worst economic nightmare since its independence, with foreign exchange reserves falling abysmally by 70% in the past two years. This has left the country struggling to import essential goods, such as food, fuel, cooking gas and medicine, and is causing power cuts of up to 13 hours a day. The devaluation of its currency has sent inflation soaring to 17.5% in February, the highest so far, hitting the already struggling businesses and exporters but especially the people. “All successive governments to date are responsible in varying degrees for the present state of affairs,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka said in a statement, adding that “the present government as well as those in the opposition … must adopt a conciliatory not a confrontational approach” and they should not “play the blame game.”
“The country is fast approaching the precipice of a failed state that will in its wake inflict irreversible injuries on the people,” the bishops warned, calling on their faithful and Church institutions to come to the aid of the most vulnerable and affected groups.