N K Jayawardena, the president of the All Ceylon Bakery Association has warned that the country faces imminent shortages of bread as wheat and flour importers informed them of supply chain disruptions caused by the forex crisis, which have left foreign dollar reserves at an all-time low.

Jayawardena spoke to reporters on January 7 and detailed that following discussions held with flour importers, the association was informed that the situation was critical.

“The companies said they can give us as much flour as we want, but the issue is with dollars," Jayawardena told reporters. "They told us that they only get 10 per cent of the dollars they need. So what are they going to do?”

The Economynext reports that Sri Lankan's have been lining the streets in recent days looking to purchase basic essentials such as cooking gas and milk powder, amidst an already volatile environment where food prices have skyrocketed.

Commenting on this Jayawardena noted that “people might not be able to buy bread even if they stand in queues,”.

The economic situation on the island has reached a point of crisis reflected in the highest levels of inflation recorded in more than a decade. In recent weeks Sri Lanka sold over half its gold reserves, worth an estimated US$382.2 million dollars at the end of November. Its value has plummeted by half by the end of December reaching a value of US$175.3 million.

The Rajapaksa regime has been criticised for the mismanagement of policy which has left Sri Lankan heavily in debt, in recent weeks former members of parliament questioned the unnecessary spending used to fly prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on a private jet for a religious pilgrimage.  

Read more at EconomyNext.