War Worsens Economic Pain in Sri Lanka

0:00Brazil used to have one of the fastest growing economies in the world. People called it the country of the future. Their songs. O Brasil é o país do futuro. Because it seems like we have it all, man. But then the music stopped. On the Planet Money podcast, a lot of countries these days aren't rich, they aren't poor, they're just kind of stuck in the middle. Why is that? Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Today on State of the World, The War in Iran Shakes the Economies in Kitchens, Farms, and Food Markets Thousands of Miles Away.

0:41You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories, up close when they're happening. It's Friday, May 29th. I'm Christine Arismath. A fishmonger, a farmer, a cook who makes school lunches. They've all told NPR's Dia Hadid that they're struggling as the war involving Iran enters its fourth month. But they're not anywhere near the conflict. They're in Sri Lanka, thousands of miles away. The island depends heavily on imported energy, and prices have spiked since the war began. And as Dia reports, this latest shock comes just as many Sri Lankans were beginning to recover from past crises.

1:31Chuti the parrot demands rice from her perch on a balcony in Dambagula village. Her owner, Nita Kumari, sympathises.

1:44Life's long been tough for the 44-year-old single mum. But now, she says, I'm under pressure. Kumari's a farmer and she says she's only planted a quarter of her land. because she couldn't afford to hire help.

2:01That's because of the Mideast War. Both Iran and the US are blocking the Strait of Ramuz. It's a key global route for energy and fertiliser. That blockade has pushed up the price of fuel in Sri Lanka and that's pushed up the price of food and transport. So Kamari says farmhands are charging more so they can keep up with rising prices. Now it's$10 a day for a man, half that for a woman.

2:29Kumari's 23-year-old daughter used to help out. She made$90 a month at a hotel catering to wealthy tourists. But the wars pushed up jet fuel prices, so there's fewer tourists, and her daughter lost her job. For millions like Kumari, the Mideast war is just the latest punch. Sri Lankans have been reeling from crisis to crisis since 2019. This is NPR reporting on the events of Easter Sunday that year. Coordinated bombings killed more than 200 people. Tourism is one of the main ways Sri Lanka owns foreign currency. But after the bombings, foreigners emptied out, and they stayed away as the pandemic paralysed international travel.

3:09Then, another shock jolted the country. This is Ahilan Kadiragumar. He is a political economist at the University of Jaffna. What really pushed us over the cliff was in 2022, when the Ukraine war started. It pushed up the price of gas and key items like wheat and vegetable oil. And that partly caused Sri Lanka to default on its debts, triggering a serious economic crisis. Then, in November last year, a cyclone washed away homes, farms and killed more than 600 people. Now, the war on Iran. We've lost a generation. In the town of Sigriya, a caterer prepares free lunches for school children. This is part of a government program for about 1.5 million kids.

3:58It began two years ago to help curb child malnutrition. The UN estimates some half of all households here have to cut down on food to get by. Nilanthi Kumari has been up since 3am preparing rice, dal and an okra curry. By dawn, she's shelling 57 boiled eggs, one for each child.

4:24At the school, kids have left their open lunch boxes out, and Kumari briskly ladles in the food as they play outside. She says feeding children is a good deed. But she's not a charity. The government here pays her 35 cents per meal. The war's pushed up food prices. She's barely breaking even. But she knows if she walks away, these boys and girls will go hungry.

4:56In the capital, Colombo, the deputy finance minister says some children are attending school just to eat.

5:06Anil Chaita Fernando says the government wants to spend money to help people get by. But it also needs to spend its limited money to buy oil, which is now much more expensive to keep industries afloat so the economy doesn't tank through this latest crisis. Fernando cautions patience. It takes time. Sri Lankans are trying to muddle through. In a fishing harbour in the southern town of Gaul, Tanushka chops up fish for tips.

5:37Tanushka, who only goes by one name, sharpens his machete, then gets to work on a tuna. Tanushka says there's not much work, and even the tips are stingier. Instead of$3, folks are more likely to hand over 30 cents.

5:57He says, how can people buy fish without money? He gestures to his other machete. The handle's fallen off. The last time he bought one, it cost$4.50. Now it's$18.

6:13He says, I can't afford that. I'll just have to wait till things get better. Deer Hadid, NPR News, reporting from across Sri Lanka.

6:32That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening. A grassy green lawn might look nice, but it's going to eat up resources like drinking water and the gas you put in the mower. You can do a solid for the environment by ditching even just some of your lawn and replacing it with a wildlife-friendly garden. LifeKit has tips to get you started. No green them required. Listen to the LifeKit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.