In a series of tweets, Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that his government is trying to fix the country's economy by treating the root cause of the malaise, rather than by administering painkillers.
The president said that systemic change and national unity together with economic reforms are needed to achieve prosperity.
Wickremesinghe's comments came a day after the country celebrated the 75th anniversary of its independence.
"Many of the decisions I have been compelled to take are unpopular, but because of these, no citizen will die in queues or starve," Wickremesinghe tweeted on Sunday.
The nation, home to 22 million people, is seeking a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the wake of an unprecedented balance of payments (BoPs) crisis caused by depleted forex reserves.
"Despite obstacles, I will continue with the reforms. If we work in a united and planned manner, we can be a developed country by 2048. True freedom can be achieved, and our collective responsibility is to build a new country where our children can compete with the rest of the world," Wickremesinghe said earlier.
The worst crisis the nation has experienced since it became independent has led to shortages in food, fuel and other essentials.
In April last year, Colombo announced that it would default on its foreign debt repayments of $51Bln because of the depleted reserves.