Explainer: Sri Lanka's reluctance to tap IMF helped push it into an economic abyss

Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis has triggered an unprecedented wave of spontaneous protests as the island nation of 22 million people struggles with prolonged power cuts and a shortage of essentials, including fuel and medicines.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government has come under growing pressure for its mishandling of the economy, and the country has suspended foreign debt payments in an effort to preserve its paltry foreign exchange reserves.

Today, Sri Lanka will begin...