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In order to avoid an impending food shortage, Sri Lanka is urging government employees to take an extra day off each week to grow crops in their backyards.
Several fundamental goods, as well as gas and medicines, are in short supply due to an unprecedented economic crisis, and soaring inflation is wreaking havoc on household finances.
The extra day off would be a “solution to the impending food shortage,” according to the statement, which also noted that reducing civil servant trips would help reduce fuel usage.
The United Nations has declared a “dire humanitarian catastrophe” in Sri Lanka, claiming that four of every five people in the 22 million-strong country have been forced to skip meals.
Meanwhile, motorists have been dealing with months of gasoline and diesel shortages, with huge lines of cars forming outside gas stations.
According to the cabinet decision, public employees will have every Friday off for the next three months without losing salary, but essential services employees will be exempt.
According to the administration, any of the government’s 1.5 million employees who want to look for work overseas would be offered up to five years of unpaid leave without affecting their seniority or pension.
The measure is intended to encourage more individuals to take jobs in other countries and send money back to the island, which is suffering from a serious shortage of foreign currency to buy goods.
Sri Lanka has defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt and is negotiating a bailout with the IMF.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation has been called for due to economic mismanagement and the extreme suffering that the people are experiencing.
Soon after taking power in November, Rajapaksa implemented substantial tax cuts, which have been accused of leaving the island unable to pay for basic imports.
The Covid-19 outbreak devastated the tourism business and halted remittances from Sri Lankans working overseas, exacerbating the monetary shortages.
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