A 19-year-old mother committed suicide in Eravur yesterday due to her inability to repay a loan of Rs. 2000 to a micro-finance company. 

The incident is the latest in a series of debt-driven suicides in the North and East provinces where a sizable proportion of the population still live below the poverty line. 

Although the government intervened several times to write off some of the debt obtained by people in the North and East provinces, debt-driven suicides continue unabated. 

A large number of people burdened with micro-finance loans have also been affected by natural disasters including floods and drought causing loss of livelihood. 

As a lasting solution to the problem, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said last month that the government would introduce laws and regulations to govern the Micro-Finance industry with a new Micro-Finance Act to prevent debt traps and exploitative lending programmes targeting vulnerable borrowers.