<p>Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's inflation hit a record high for the sixth consecutive month, official data showed on Friday as the government asked the IMF for an urgent bailout.</p>.<p>The broad-based National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) rose 21.5 per cent year-on-year in March, more than four times the 5.1 per cent inflation of a year earlier.</p>.<p>Food inflation in March stood at 29.5 per cent, according to the latest data from the Department of Census and Statistics.</p>.<p>The figures are likely to rise further: the state-run oil company has subsequently raised the price of diesel, commonly used in public transport, by 64.2 per cent.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/economy-business/hunger-and-blackouts-are-just-the-start-of-an-emerging-economic-crisis-1102542.html" target="_blank">Hunger and blackouts are just the start of an emerging economic crisis</a></strong></p>.<p>The worsening economic crisis has led to clashes at nationwide demonstrations calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down over mismanagement and corruption.</p>.<p>Sri Lanka asked the International Monetary Fund this week for emergency assistance but was told that the South Asian nation's $51 billion external debt was "unsustainable" and must be "restructured" before any help.</p>.<p>"When the IMF determines that a country's debt is not sustainable, the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability prior to IMF lending," the Fund's country director Masahiro Nozaki said in a statement on Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Approval of an IMF-supported program for Sri Lanka would require adequate assurances that debt sustainability will be restored."</p>.<p>The government has announced a default on its foreign debt and said precious foreign exchange will be reserved to finance essential food and medicines.</p>.<p>Police clashed with protesters in central Sri Lanka on Tuesday, killing one of them and wounding nearly 30.</p>.<p>At least eight people have also died waiting in long lines for fuel in the past six weeks.</p>.<p>The country's foreign exchange shortage has led to a slowing down of imports, including essentials.</p>.<p>Shops have rationed the quantity of rice, milk powder, sugar, lentils and tinned fish sold to consumers.</p>.<p>Sri Lanka's economy has collapsed since the onset of the pandemic, with a nosedive in tourism revenue as well as foreign worker remittances.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's inflation hit a record high for the sixth consecutive month, official data showed on Friday as the government asked the IMF for an urgent bailout.</p>.<p>The broad-based National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) rose 21.5 per cent year-on-year in March, more than four times the 5.1 per cent inflation of a year earlier.</p>.<p>Food inflation in March stood at 29.5 per cent, according to the latest data from the Department of Census and Statistics.</p>.<p>The figures are likely to rise further: the state-run oil company has subsequently raised the price of diesel, commonly used in public transport, by 64.2 per cent.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/economy-business/hunger-and-blackouts-are-just-the-start-of-an-emerging-economic-crisis-1102542.html" target="_blank">Hunger and blackouts are just the start of an emerging economic crisis</a></strong></p>.<p>The worsening economic crisis has led to clashes at nationwide demonstrations calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down over mismanagement and corruption.</p>.<p>Sri Lanka asked the International Monetary Fund this week for emergency assistance but was told that the South Asian nation's $51 billion external debt was "unsustainable" and must be "restructured" before any help.</p>.<p>"When the IMF determines that a country's debt is not sustainable, the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability prior to IMF lending," the Fund's country director Masahiro Nozaki said in a statement on Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Approval of an IMF-supported program for Sri Lanka would require adequate assurances that debt sustainability will be restored."</p>.<p>The government has announced a default on its foreign debt and said precious foreign exchange will be reserved to finance essential food and medicines.</p>.<p>Police clashed with protesters in central Sri Lanka on Tuesday, killing one of them and wounding nearly 30.</p>.<p>At least eight people have also died waiting in long lines for fuel in the past six weeks.</p>.<p>The country's foreign exchange shortage has led to a slowing down of imports, including essentials.</p>.<p>Shops have rationed the quantity of rice, milk powder, sugar, lentils and tinned fish sold to consumers.</p>.<p>Sri Lanka's economy has collapsed since the onset of the pandemic, with a nosedive in tourism revenue as well as foreign worker remittances.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>