Sri Lanka has requested the International Monetary Fund for a speedy bailout package as officials battle to save the island nation from economic troubles that have snowballed into a deepening political crisis.

The country’s Finance Minister Ali Sabry, who on Monday kicked off bailout talks with the lender of last resort in Washington, is seeking IMF’s rapid financial assistance to tackle growing shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

“Minister of Finance has made a request for a Rapid Financing Instrument with the IMF,” the government said in a statement Tuesday. “It had been communicated that IMF will consider the special request made despite it being outside of the standard circumstances for the issuance of an RFI.”

IMF members can access one-off emergency loans, with few conditions, through the lender’s Rapid Credit Facility and Rapid Financing Instrument. This payout, however, is capped at 50% of a state’s quota for a year, which in Sri Lanka’s case works out to $395 million — or 289 million in special drawing rights, the IMF’s unit of account. 

That is only a fraction of what the tiny South Asian nation needs. Sri Lanka is seeking up to $ 4 billion this year to tide over problems and pay creditors amid dwindling foreign reserves and Asia’s fastest inflation. Last week, the country warned of an unprecedented default and halted payments on foreign debt, leading to a series of downgrades of the nation’s credit rating.

While the emergency funds can help stabilize things in the short term, Colombo would need a credible debt plan to avail more funds. The $81 billion economy is facing $ 8.6 billion wrth of debt obligations this year including a $1.03 billion debt payment due in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Source: Bloomberg.