UN Says Children Goes To Bed Hungry In Sri Lanka

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has reached a point that children in the island nation are going to bed hungry, the United Nations said on Friday.

Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst downturn on record after running out of foreign currency to buy imports, leaving scarce supplies of food, fuel and other essentials.

The crisis is being acutely felt by families who were skipping regular meals because kitchen staples were becoming unaffordable, said George Laryea-Adjei, the South Asia director for UNICEF.

"Children are going to bed hungry, unsure of where their next meal will come from."

"Acute economic precarity and inflation across South Asia is poised to further threaten the lives of children.

"What I saw in Sri Lanka is a caution for other countries in South Asia," Laryea-Adjei added.

The Daily Sabah added that Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April and is currently in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.