Sri Lanka’s economic crisis was brought on by a political one.
And that political crisis was largely centred around the Rajapaksa family.
They’re a dynasty who’ve dominated the country’s politics for nearly 20 years.
With more, here’s our World News Editor Kate Gregan.
The Rajapaksa family has been accused of nepotism and incompetence.
But the leader of the opposition - Sajith Premadasa - has also accused the family of corruption.
"We have a country that is bankrupt. We have a country that cannot feed its people because basically this country has been run on a process of promoting family interests, family bandism, everything relates back to the family."
Mahinda Rajapaksa served two terms as president from 2005-2015 and gave dozens of family members government jobs.
There was a new president in 2015 from an opposing party, and four years later, Mehinda's younger brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was elected president.
He made Mahinda Prime Minister and handed out a bunch of other jobs to relatives.
Both Mahinda and Gotabaya are at the heart of the current crisis.
For a long time, the government has been spending more than it takes in.
In 2019, the government started dipping into foreign reserves to pay its debt.
The President also followed through on his election promise to bring in huge tax cuts.
But those cuts meant the government suddenly lost out on a lot of money – about 25% of its revenue.
In 2020, the pandemic took its toll - revenues dropped further, and the tourism industry ground to a halt.
And last year, the government banned fertilizers and ordered farmers to go organic.
They were suddenly producing much less.
Sri Lanka had to start importing rice, and food prices skyrocketed.
By March, the situation was dire.
Sri Lanka couldn't pay for imports of food, fuel or medicine.
The government tried to contain discontent by shutting down social media and declaring a state of emergency but protests grew and in early April Sri Lanka's entire cabinet resigned - but the President stayed put.
Today, it appears the Rajapaksa dynasty may be over -- but the political and economic crisis continues.
