Australia will provide Sri Lanka with $50 million (US$34.5 million) dollars of development assistance to help meet urgent food and healthcare needs as it battles its worst economic crisis in 70 years.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would immediately provide $22 million to the World Food Programme for emergency assistance—providing food for three million people in Sri Lanka—and a further $23 million to support health services and the economic recovery.
“Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel, ” Wong said. “Australia has a close and long-standing relationship with Sri Lanka. Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.”…