Charith Gunawardena With the whole world watching the deteriorating political, economic and humanitarian situation unfolding in Sri Lanka, and while we pray for swift solutions to food, fuel and medical shortages, there is now an opportunity to reinvent how countries caught in post-Covid 19 debt traps recover from crippling debt and re-emerge as healthy, functioning […]

Courtesy The New Arab Sri Lanka’s president said on Saturday that an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help pull the bankrupt nation out of its economic crisis has been pushed back to September because of unrest over the past weeks. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his first speech since he was elected by parliament on 20 […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Earnings from merchandise exports reached US $ 1,208 million in June 2022 Key sectors contributing to improved export earnings include apparel, coconut and rubber  Grim export performance witnessed in tea and spices sectors US, UK and India emerge as largest markets for SL export basket Exports to all regions except CIS […]

Courtesy Adaderana The World Bank Group says it is deeply concerned about the dire economic situation and its impact on the people of Sri Lanka. In a statement, the global financial institution said it is repurposing resources under existing loans in our portfolio to help alleviate severe shortages of essential items such as medicines, cooking gas, […]

Courtesy Hiru News Earnings from the merchandise exports increased by 20 % y-o-y to US$ 1,208.2 Mn in June 2022 as per the data released by the Sri Lanka Customs. This was mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of Apparel & Textiles, Rubber based products, Coconut based products, Food & Beverages and Seafood. Major product […]

Courtesy The Telegraph  Chinese projects have boosted country’s economic development, and brought tangible benefits to its people: Zhao Lijian. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. China on Thursday defended its massive infrastructure ventures and investments in Sri Lanka and said that they have boosted” its economic development, amid criticism from the US that Beijing’s unproductive […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka hopes to conclude discussions with China soon” on a $4 billion aid package, the country’s ambassador to Beijing told Nikkei Asia. Ambassador Palitha Kohona said in an email that talks were progressing. We hope that these discussions could be concluded soon, as a positive outcome would definitely assist Sri Lanka to reestablish […]

Courtesy Adaderana Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state’s government seeks a financing loan from the Washington-based fund. China is a big creditor, and Sri Lanka has to engage proactively with it on a debt restructuring,” Krishna […]

Courtesy Adaderana After helping Sri Lanka with an unprecedented assistance of around $4 billion since January as the country plunged into a deep economic crisis, India is now planning to invest heavily in newer sectors through both private and public firms there, Gopal Baglay, high commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, told ThePrint in an […]

Courtesy Lankanewsweb.net JUNE 16, 2022 Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy is building himself as an economic savior. He became CBSL Governor thanks to his school mate Malik Samarawickrama. He is certainly a gentleman economist. His knowledge of financial markets according to CBSL sources was very shallow. So he depended on his officials. During his tenure it is […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff level agreement which was to come in August this year has been delayed because of the unrest caused by some protesters whose agitation later turned violent, a cabinet Minister said today. Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara told a media briefing that the […]

Ravi Buddhavarapu Courtesy CNBC KEY POINTS The IMF cannot… interact with the government when things are in a continuing crisis mode. So until the government stabilizes, until they have a minister of finance, there’s no one for the IMF to talk with,” professor Deborah Brautigam told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia” on Friday. The IMF will […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief has held China responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, saying Colombo’s dumb bets” on high-debt Chinese investment have led to the catastrophic outcomes. The Chinese have a lot of weight to throw around and they can make a very appealing case for their investments,” William Burns said […]

Benjamin Norton Courtesy https://towardfreedom.org/ Facing a deep economic crisis and bankruptcy, Sri Lanka was rocked by large protests this July, which led to the resignation of the government. Numerous Western political leaders and media outlets blamed this uprising on a supposed Chinese debt trap,” echoing a deceptive narrative that has been thoroughly debunked by mainstream academics. […]

Courtesy Adaderana Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says he is confident that Sri Lanka can come out of this severe economic crisis within a period of 05 months. We have a clear program and a clear path,” he added. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=329050316110205&ref=external In an interview with CNN, the governor said […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund hopes to complete rescue talks with Sri Lanka as quickly as possible,” Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday, hours before the crisis-hit South Asian nation elected a new president. Speaking with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo, Georgieva said the fund was very deeply concerned about the well-being of the […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka has not reached any initial agreement with the IMF on debt relief, and its largest creditors -the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank – are urged to come up with a package that would speed up its debt restructuring process, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona told the […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Whilst revealing that the G7 alliance on the global food crisis has offered Sri Lanka US$ 14 million to spend on food, Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe said there is much to be done to avoid third-world countries such as Sri Lanka falling down on their knees in the face of the […]

Courtesy Hiru News Sri Lanka’s crisis-hit economy is likely to contract by more than 6% this year as political instability and social unrest hamstring key discussions on financial relief with the International Monetary Fund and bilateral creditors, the country’s central-bank governor has said to wall street journal. While technical discussions at the central bank and […]

By Jerome Phelps Courtesy Tribune Behind the food and fuel shortages causing Sri Lanka’s protests lie unmanageable debts to the West. The only answer to worsening humanitarian catastrophe is an immediate write-off. On Sunday, demonstrators broke into the lavish private residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. As protesters swam in his pool and made use of […]

By Dushni Weerakoon(1) Courtesy Eurasia Review Sri Lanka’s slide into political instability since April 2022 culminated in the resignation of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa following public protests on 9 July 2022. The government’s policy blunders and resistance to course correction were blamed for unleashing the harshest economic crisis on the Sri Lankan population in recent […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is continuing negotiations with China for as much as $4 billion in aid and is confident Beijing will agree at some point,” according to a top envoy. Colombo is asking China for a loan of $1 billion to repay an equivalent amount of Chinese debt coming due this year, Palitha Kohona, […]

Courtesy Adaderana The governor of Sri Lanka’s central bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe, has warned that the country may shut down if no stable government is formed soon. There is a lot of uncertainty” over whether enough foreign exchange can be found to pay for essential petroleum, he told the BBC’s Newsnight programme. Progress on getting an […]

වෛද්‍ය කේ.එම්. වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර ලේකම් දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරය අප රටේ විදේශ විනිමය ලැබීම් සහ ගෙවීම් වලට අදාල සියලු කටයුතු මූලික වශයෙන් නියාමනය කරනු ලබන්නේ 2017 අංක 12 දරන විදේශ විනිමය පනත මගිනි. එම පනත සම්මත කරනු ලැබූ 2017 ජුලි 28 දක්වා ඒ සියලු කටයුතු පාලනය වූයේ 1953 අංක 27 දරණ විනිමය පාලන පනත මගිනි. එම […]

Courtesy The Straits Times WASHINGTON (AFP) – The IMF hopes unrest in Sri Lanka will be resolved soon so that aid talks that were interrupted can resume, a fund spokesman said on Thursday (July 14). Formal discussions on a new loan programme for the cash-strapped nation began last month but were thrown off course by the political upheaval […]

Priyantha Hettige Courtesy Island Millions of Sri Lankans are anxiously waiting to see what actions will be taken to make life bearable again. If we follow the example of successful countries, we see how they have exploited their opportunities, and used the wealth created, not to import cars and go on luxury trips abroad, but […]

Courtesy Adaderana Former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, wanted by Sri Lankan authorities over the bond scam, speaking to CNN Philippines about the island nation’s crisis situation said the government of Sri Lanka is finding it difficult to persuade lenders. In response to a question on the events that led to the collapse of Sri […]

Courtesy multipolarista.com Sri Lanka owes 81% of its external debt to US and European financial institutions and Western allies Japan and India. China owns just 10%. But Washington blames imaginary Chinese debt traps” for the nation’s crisis, as it considers a 17th IMF structural adjustment program. Facing a deep economic crisis and bankruptcy, Sri Lanka […]

Courtesy Hiru News COLOMBO, July 11 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s central bank governor signalled on Monday that he would stay in the job but warned that prolonged political instability in the country may delay progress on negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package. “Political instability might delay the progress we have been […]

Andrew Korybko Courtesy CGTN Farmers take part in an anti-government protest demanding the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the country’s ongoing economic crisis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 6, 2022. /VCG Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared his country “bankrupt” on Tuesday, as a result of the island’s worst-ever economic crisis since […]