On 30th August 2021, the President of Sri Lanka proclaimed that the Emergency Regulation made for the supply of essential items of food, in terms of Section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance is made effective throughout the country. This had been done as private banks have run out of foreign exchange to finance imports. The President has stated that this was done to counter the hoarding of sugar, rice and other essential foods. The regulations give wide powers to officials to seize food stocks held by traders, arrest people who hoard essential food, and for the government to fix controlled prices. Extraordinary Gazette notification is attached under "Evidence". Several international media reported about this: 1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/31/sri-lanka-food-prices-emergency-forex-crisis; 2. https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-issues-emergency-food-regulations-as-prices-go-up-rupee-weakens-85609/; 3. https://thewire.in/south-asia/sri-lanka-declares-food-emergency-as-country-runs-out-of-forex-reserves-to-finance-imports.