Sri Lanka is going through an economic crisis and its Forex is completely exhausted. Inflation has made everyone’s life difficult. Fuels like petrol and diesel have been at their peak. The government does not have enough foreign exchange even to buy from outside.

LPG gas cylinder is at the cost of 4200 Sri Lankan rupees. The price of sugar has reached 240 Sri Lankan rupees. Rice has reached 220 and Milk Powder 1900 Sri Lankan rupees is being sold per kg.

Sri Lanka has declared itself bankrupt. Now, while India is helping Sri Lanka in every way possible, China has asked not to give any concession regarding its debt.

In Sri Lanka, there is a sudden discussion about India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman among people. People are saluting her. Now let us know what actually happened, which made such a special place for the Indian Finance Minister among the people of Sri Lanka?

India has sent aid of 2.4 billion dollars to Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2022. Two days ago, India announced to give Rs 3800 crore again to buy oil. Indian Finance Ministry is helping the Government of Sri Lanka in every way possible.

India is also helping the Finance of Sri Lanka in getting help from IMF or other countries of the world. The officials of the Indian Finance Department are also helping the Sri Lankan officials with the paperwork required.

On 19 April, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ali Sabri. During this too, Mrs Sitharaman assured to help Sri Lanka.

Why did Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman suddenly come into the limelight?

On 19 April, there was a long meeting between the Finance Ministers of Sri Lanka and India. Many officers from both countries were also present at that moment. The governments of India and Sri Lanka shared the picture on social media. Seeing this picture getting viral in Sri Lanka, people started reacting in different ways.

Ruben Thurairaji shared a photograph of Nirmala Sitharaman and a press note issued by the Finance Department of Sri Lanka. It was written in this press note that the Government of India and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have assured all possible help. Apart from this, they will also cooperate in seeking help for Sri Lanka from the IMF.

Dr Ruben wrote in his post, ‘This is the real Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Nirmala Sitharaman. His team is teaching President Gotabaya Rajapakse’s team to do the paperwork for Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). Thank you Nirmala Sitharaman ji.’

Nirmala Sitharaman met the Managing Director of IMF and demanded IMF help to Sri Lanka at the earliest. The Finance Minister said, ‘The situation in Sri Lanka is getting worse every day. On humanitarian grounds, it becomes the duty of the whole world to help Sri Lanka this time. At the same time, the IMF appreciated the steps being taken by India to improve the situation in Sri Lanka.