With inflation record high, food prices skyrocketing, and its coffers running dry, Sri Lanka’s economic crises are deepening, and the country appears to be staring at a “humanitarian crisis”. According to World Bank estimates, 5 lakh people in Sri Lanka have fallen below the poverty line since the pandemic struck, which it described as a “huge setback equivalent to five years’ worth of progress”. The country’s economy contracted by 1.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) said last month. There are fears that Sri Lanka could go bankrupt this year. The government, however, said Tuesday the country will not default on its international debt as it announced a USD 1.2 billion economic relief package.