The number of victims of Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka has reached 465, hundreds more are missing. The country needs help to rebuild after the floods and the economic crisis.
The death toll from landslides and floods in Sri Lanka caused by Cyclone Ditwah has risen to at least 465, local authorities said on Wednesday, with another 366 people missing. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
The Commissioner-General of Basic Services, who is leading the massive relief effort, said the government would give each family 25,000 rupees (70 euros) for clean-up work, while those who lost their homes would receive up to 2.5 million rupees (7,000 euros). According to the commissioner, approximately six billion euros will be needed to restore residential buildings, industrial enterprises and roads.
President Anura Kumara Disanajake said foreign aid was essential to fund reconstruction as the country was still reeling from its worst economic crisis in three years.
Sri Lanka declared state bankruptcy of nearly 40 billion euros in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange reserves to finance even the most essential imports such as food, fuel and medicine. The country subsequently received a bailout loan of 2.49 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the country’s economy has since stabilized. However, according to the IMF, Sri Lanka must continue with reforms, including austerity measures. The 2022 crisis led to months of protests that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign.
