After traders ran out of money to import essentials, the island nation's 22 million residents have faced months of food, gasoline, and medical shortages.
Digital Desk: Sri Lanka, which is bankrupt, will set aside some of its limited fuel supplies for the cremation of Buddhists whose burial rites have been interrupted by the country's severe economic situation.
After traders ran out of money to import essentials, the island nation's 22 million residents have faced months of food, gasoline, and medical shortages.
After running out of liquefied petroleum gas, some cemeteries outside of Colombo's capital have cancelled cremation services, instead offering funerals to mourning families, according to local media.
Cemeteries and other important industries, including Sri Lanka's faltering tourism sector, would benefit from a gas shipment that arrived in port on Tuesday.
"We will provide mass consumers, such as hotels, hospitals, and crematoriums," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday, adding that another shipment to supply households would arrive in two weeks.
The majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, who are typically cremated, while the minority Christians and Muslims are buried.
Under Covid-19 epidemic laws, the government was chastised last year for halting burials and forcing Muslim grieving to cremate their loved ones.
Inflation is rife in Sri Lanka, and the cost of dying has risen dramatically.
A one-day burial ceremony, which cost 380,000 rupees ($1,900) in December, now costs more than twice that much, including crematorium fees.
Since the end of last year, unrelenting gasoline shortages have had a significant impact on power generation and transportation, with regular blackouts around the island and long lines of motorists outside filling stations.
Sri Lanka will only be able to meet half of its normal fuel demand over the next four months, according to Wickremesinghe, and the government will introduce a rationing system in July.
An IMF group is due to visit the nation on Monday to begin talks on Sri Lanka's request for an emergency bailout, according to the prime minister.
Sri Lanka declared default on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, claiming that it requires $6 billion to stay afloat.
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