Sri Lanka economy crisis to get worse before it gets better, PM says

The economic crisis that has brought misery and unrest is going to get worse before it gets better, according to the prime minister.

The country is facing fuel shortages and soaring food prices, with some people forced to skip meals.

There have been violent protests over the government handling of the crisis.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed in order to diffuse the protests. The opposition MP has been the prime minister six times.

In his first interview since taking office, the leader of the country said he would make families get three meals a day.

He appealed to the world for more financial help and said there wouldn't be a hunger crisis.

The new PM said that he would bring things back, even though he described the Sri Lankan economy as broken.

The appointment of Mr Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister has been met with disappointment as he is seen as too close to the politically dominant Rajapaksa family.

In his interview, Mr Wickremesinghe said that he agreed with the sentiment of the protesters and that he would not resign.

The economy of Sri Lanka is in freefall. Food, medicine, and fuel are no longer available. Some people have died waiting to fill up their tanks.

It is the worst economic crisis since the island nation gained independence.

We don't have petrol, we don't have diesel, we don't have cooking gas, and we don't even have access to a wood-fired stove.

We are struggling to feed our children. The price of food has tripled in the last few days. How are we supposed to manage?

The country is heavily reliant on imports but has been burning through its foreign currency reserves to pay for them.

The economy was hurt by the church bombings. Experts blame economic mismanagement as well.

• Sri Lanka is an island nation off southern India: It got independence from British rule in 1948. Three ethnic groups - Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim - make up 99% of the country's 22m population.
• One family of brothers has dominated for years: Mahinda Rajapaksa became a hero among the majority Sinhalese in 2009 when his government defeated Tamil separatist rebels after years of bitter and bloody civil war. His brother Gotabaya, who was defence minister at the time is now president.
• Now an economic crisis has led to fury on the streets: Soaring inflation has meant medicine and fuel are in short supply, there are rolling blackouts and ordinary people have taken to the streets in anger with many blaming the Rajapaksa family and their government for the turmoil.