Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that money is needed for basic items like food, fuel and fertilisers.
In May, Sri Lanka defaulted on its loans with international lenders for the first time in its history. The country has held bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
On Tuesday, Mr Wickremesinghe, who is also the country’s finance minister, told parliament that more money is needed this year to meet Sri Lanka’s basic needs.
He said the island nation, which has a population of about 22 million, needs $3.3bn for fuel imports, $900m for food, $600m for fertilizer and $250m for cooking gas.
This comes after Sri Lankan lawmakers accepted a $55m loan for fertilizers from India’s Exim Bank. Mr Wickremesinghe said the United Nations also planned a worldwide appeal for Sri Lanka and pledged $48 million for food, agriculture and healthcare.
He also warned of a slowdown in government payments to businesses and workers across the country, as money is redirected to pay for food supplies.
“A lot of people will be without food, so the food programme we are initiating will ensure that all families, even if they have no income, will have food,” Mr Wickremesinghe said.
“We can have community kitchens in temples [and] churches to supply the food. The community has to get involved,” he added. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.
The country’s economy has been badly hit by the pandemic, rising energy prices and populist tax cuts. The shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials has also helped drive the cost of living to record highs.
Sri Lanka’s official rate of inflation, the pace at which prices rise, rose 39.1% year on year in May. At the same time, in its largest city Colombo, food prices increased by 57.4%.
Mr Wickremesinghe is set to unveil an interim budget next month, as he faces the challenge of reducing overall government spending while still providing social welfare payments.
Last week, Sri Lanka’s agriculture minister called on farmers to grow more rice as he said the country’s “food situation was getting worse”.
The government also announced an immediate increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 8% to 12%. The move was expected to increase revenue by 65bn Sri Lankan rupees ($181m; £144m). It also said that the corporate tax will increase from 24% to 30% in October.