Timeline of Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence

 A look at how the crisis in the island nation has unfolded in the past two weeks.

Muslim demonstrators eat Iftar meal inside a protest area, dubbed the Gota-Go village, where people are gathering in opposition to Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa near the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Sri Lanka, which is mired in a deep political and economic crisis, has announced it is suspending payments on its $51bn foreign debt.

The island nation of 22 million people is experiencing acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, a crisis that has inflicted widespread misery in the worst downturn since independence from the United Kingdom in 1948.

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Sri Lanka doctors warn of ‘catastrophe’ as medicines run low

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Thousands in Sri Lanka insist Rajapaksa family quit politics

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No Sri Lankan, rich or poor, spared as economic crisis worsens

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Infographic: Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and political turmoil

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The South Asian country emerged from a devastating civil war in 2009, only to be rocked by Easter Sunday church bombings in 2019 before being hit hard the following year by the COVID-19 pandemic, which torpedoed its vital tourism sector.

Here is how the crisis has unfolded in recent days: