Post Tagged with: "Sri Lanka Economic Crisis"

Sri Lanka Financial Crisis Needs Accountability

Sri Lanka Financial Crisis Needs Accountability

The recent statements of President Ranil Wickramasinghe and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry expose and confirm the financial, political, and economic bankruptcy of Sri Lanka even admitted by the leaders and architects of these bankruptcies who nurtured and fed them for their political and personal prosperity partly encouraged by the numbed and sterile opposition coupled with the complacency of ordinary citizens.[Read More…]

by 29/10/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Financial Crisis in Sri Lanka

Financial Crisis in Sri Lanka

Over the past decade, the Sri Lankan government has borrowed vast sums of money from foreign lenders to fund public services. Sri Lanka had to fall back on its foreign exchange reserves to pay off government debt, shrinking its reserves from $6.9 billion in 2018 to $2.2 billion this year. This impacted imports of fuel and other essentials, which sent[Read More…]

by 17/10/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
IMF Bailout of BlackRock amid Adani Greenwash:  Where does the Gravy Train End?

IMF Bailout of BlackRock amid Adani Greenwash:  Where does the Gravy Train End?

Buenos Aires was rocked again last week by massive protests against austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Structural reforms with austerity have resulted in soaring inflation, currency depreciation, poverty and inequality that is eroding Argentine society and economy, while enabling bail out of private lenders and vulture funds like BlackRock. Argentina is now on its 21st IMF[Read More…]

by 28/08/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Red Flags of Cold war in the Indian Ocean: From IS-claimed Easter attacks to Yuan Wang–5

Red Flags of Cold war in the Indian Ocean: From IS-claimed Easter attacks to Yuan Wang–5

The alarm bells had been ringing for some time in Sri Lanka. The island nation is strategically located at the center of the Indian Ocean on the busiest trade and Undersea Data Cables routes in the world and hence perpetually in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry. For those who missed the signs if not the red flags; ripples caused[Read More…]

by 17/08/2022 Comments are Disabled World
A Brief Outline of Strategy for the New Phase of Janatha Aragalaya

A Brief Outline of Strategy for the New Phase of Janatha Aragalaya

[This article is based on the discussions with activists of the Janatha Aragalaya and concerned Sri Lankan citizens. It is a humble contribution towards ongoing debates within the movement. As the French proverb goes: “De choc des opinions jaillit la vérité” – Truth arises from a conflict of opinions.]   With the deepening crisis of the world capitalist system, we[Read More…]

by 13/08/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Will Sri Lanka recover from its massive debt crisis?

Will Sri Lanka recover from its massive debt crisis?

The massive debt crisis has affected the lives of nearly all classes in the society, specially the poor and middle, in Sri Lanka is not new. The loans given lead to a debt trap which is the root cause of our situation. Sri Lanka’s foreign debt has reached US$ 52 billion and debt servicing last year was six billion dollars[Read More…]

by 10/08/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Peaceful Protests for a Revolutionary Change in Sri Lanka

Peaceful Protests for a Revolutionary Change in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankans had been protesting for months over the country’s economic crisis that has led to a severe shortage of many essential imported items like medicines, fuel and cooking gas. Wickremesinghe’s predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after protesters stormed his official residence and occupied many key state buildings including the president’s office and prime minister’s office and official residence.[Read More…]

by 09/08/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
As the State collapses in Sri Lanka, citizens fill the vacuum

As the State collapses in Sri Lanka, citizens fill the vacuum

Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic and political crisis has created new kinds of solidarities among citizens, as they try and help each other ride through fuel and food shortages in the absence of assistance or information from the government. Take the fuel queues that stretch for a kilometer or more outside petrol pumps in every direction, for example. Vehicles have to[Read More…]

by 08/08/2022 Comments are Disabled COVID Response Watch
Revolt in Sri Lanka: Does A Seismic Struggle Guarantee System Change?

Revolt in Sri Lanka: Does A Seismic Struggle Guarantee System Change?

To quote Ahilan Kadirgamar, a political economist at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the uprising is “a revolt and not yet a revolution, because it doesn’t want to change fundamental social relations… or property relations.”1 As was the case with the massive upheaval in Egypt in 2011 (https://multiracialunity.org/2021/02/24/revolt-in-india-does-a-seismic-struggle-guarantee-systemic-change/, https://multiracialunity.org/2021/03/18/revolt-in-burma-does-a-seismic-struggle-guarantee-systemic-change/), without a program to challenge capitalism or an organization to[Read More…]

by 07/08/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Endless wait for petrol turns life upside down for Sri Lankans

Endless wait for petrol turns life upside down for Sri Lankans

People following the 2022 Sri Lanka political-economy crisis will be able to decipher that the two are closely linked. Political eruptions in Sri Lanka since April have usually followed intense periods of economic shortages. In March there were crippling 12-hour power cuts, resulting in small demonstrations that culminated on 9 April when thousands gathered at the Galle Face Greens. This[Read More…]

by 01/08/2022 Comments are Disabled COVID Response Watch
Gotabaya Rajapaksa Expected To Return, Says Official

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Expected To Return, Says Official

Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to return to the country from Singapore, a Sri Lankan lawmaker says. Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena told reporters on Tuesday that G Rajapaksa was not in hiding but the date of his return was not known. The former president fled Sri Lanka after mass unrest over an economic crisis. Many protesters say[Read More…]

by 27/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Burning Questions of the Sri Lankan People’s Movement: What is to be Done?  

Burning Questions of the Sri Lankan People’s Movement: What is to be Done?  

(This article is based on a talk delivered at the online session organised by International Solidarity with the People’s Movement in Sri Lanka on a 23.07.2022) The people’s movement in Sri Lanka has entered into a deadlock with the ‘(s)election’ of Ranil Wickremesinghe as President. Within hours of him assuming office, a mid-night crackdown on the Galle Face protest camp[Read More…]

by 24/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
The Elephant in the Room: Geopolitics and the ‘Great Reset’ in Sri Lanka

The Elephant in the Room: Geopolitics and the ‘Great Reset’ in Sri Lanka

“But to watch cricket, there has to be a country left for us to watch it in, no?” A fan at the Galle Test Match that ended with an innings victory for Sri Lanka. July 11, 2022 Spirits were high on July 11 when the Sri Lankan cricket team beat the visiting Aussies by an innings even though the country[Read More…]

by 24/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
A Call for Debt Justice, Debt Cancellation and Transparency in IMF Negotiations in Sri Lanka

A Call for Debt Justice, Debt Cancellation and Transparency in IMF Negotiations in Sri Lanka

The Coalition for Economic Democracy in Sri Lanka (CEDSL) is a group of concerned academics, activists, agricultural, fisheries and industrial workers, students, business persons, trade unionists, and professionals based ‘in country’ and overseas, including the diaspora, who uphold the values of economic rights and justice in public policy making. In the wake of two years of economically-devastating Covid-19 lockdowns, quantitative[Read More…]

by 22/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Popular Opposition To Wickremesinghe’s Election Could Spill Over Into Violence In Sri Lanka

Popular Opposition To Wickremesinghe’s Election Could Spill Over Into Violence In Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was braced for more unrest after newly appointed president Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed to crack down on the protests that toppled his predecessor, condemning them as “against the law”. Speaking after being MPs picked him as successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe made it clear he would not tolerate those he perceived to be stirring up violence. “If you try[Read More…]

by 21/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Will Sri Lanka be able to develop an alternative to hateful political nationalism of the Rajapaksas?

Will Sri Lanka be able to develop an alternative to hateful political nationalism of the Rajapaksas?

The mighty nationalist leaders from the Rajapaksa family in Sri Lanka looked helpless and cowardly when he was humiliated at the airport as he tried to flee abroad to protect himself from the agitating people who protested at the airport. Still, he used his powers as the arm forces followed it ‘dutifully’, knowing fully well that it was actually a[Read More…]

by 18/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Struggle For Complete System Change To Continue In Sri Lanka, Protesters Vow

Struggle For Complete System Change To Continue In Sri Lanka, Protesters Vow

Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president marked the 100th day on Sunday. The anti-government protest began on April 9 near the presidential office and has been continuing without a break. “We will continue our fight till[Read More…]

by 17/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Sri Lanka Parliament Meets Tomorrow, New President To Be Elected Within 7 Days

Sri Lanka Parliament Meets Tomorrow, New President To Be Elected Within 7 Days

Sri Lanka politicians are trying to settle popular unrest as parliament plans to meet tomorrow after the official resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was made today. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said he expected to elect a new President through Parliament within 7 days in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The Speaker said in terms of the Constitution Prime[Read More…]

by 15/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Succession In Focus As Sri Lanka Plunges In Political Vacuum

Succession In Focus As Sri Lanka Plunges In Political Vacuum

Sri Lanka’s opposition parties are trying to cobble together an all-party government and pick candidates who can take over after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to step down, giving in to popular pressure in a country struggling to pay for essentials. Sri Lanka has been plunged into a political vacuum after an economic crisis sparked widespread protests[Read More…]

by 11/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Unprecedented Protests Create Political Crisis In Sri Lanka

Unprecedented Protests Create Political Crisis In Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s opposition political parties are trying to agree on a new government a day after the country’s president and prime minister offered to resign in the country’s most chaotic day in months of political turmoil, with protesters storming both officials’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the nation’s economic crisis. Sri Lankan Army chief General[Read More…]

by 10/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
United Nations report reveals worsening social catastrophe in Sri Lanka

United Nations report reveals worsening social catastrophe in Sri Lanka

A UN survey entitled “Humanitarian Needs and Priorities—Food Security Crisis Sri Lanka” issued on June 9 painted a tragic picture of the social devastation being inflicted on workers and the poor by Colombo’s ruling elite and the capitalist system. “Sri Lanka is experiencing a multidimensional crisis, compounded by food insecurity, threatened livelihoods, shortages of essential medical items and rising protection[Read More…]

by 14/06/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Opportune time for India to extend help to crisis-stricken Sri Lanka by involving the CPSEs

Opportune time for India to extend help to crisis-stricken Sri Lanka by involving the CPSEs

Letter to the Prime Minister on involving the CPSEs with a good track record in investing in Sri Lanka in the context of the economic crisis faced by that country   To Shri Narendra D Modi Prime Minister of India   Dear Shri Modi, I welcome the timely help being provided by India to Sri Lanka at this crucial hour,[Read More…]

by 08/04/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Sri Lankan Economic Crisis amidst the Pandemic

Sri Lankan Economic Crisis amidst the Pandemic

by Dr. Prashant Kumar Choudhary and Madhubrota Chatterjee Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in the past fifty years; its economy has registered the lowest GDP per capita annual growth -4.1% in 2020, which is lower than its previous worst economic downturn of 2001 (GDP per capita annual growth was -2.25%). It is not the case that its[Read More…]

by 25/02/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia