Ayeshea Perera, BBC News: Sri Lanka: Why is the country in an economic crisis?
A state of emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country.
His departure follows months of mass protests over soaring prices and a lack of food and fuel. The country's foreign currency reserves have virtually run dry, and it has already missed debt interest payments.
Read more ....
Update: Sri Lanka in crisis: What, why and how? (Al Jazeera)
WNU Editor: There are many reasons why Sri Lanka has collapsed. Government mismanagement starting with the printing of massive amounts of money. Insane fiscal and green policies that banned the imports of fertilizer that crippled Sri Lanka's agriculture sector. Too much debt.
And while the Western narrative is to blame China for Sri Lanka's unsustainable debt levels that has led to the current crisis, the truth is that it is the Western countries that are the main creditors (see below):
Sri Lanka owes 81% of its external debt to US and European financial institutions and Western allies Japan and India.
— Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 11, 2022
China owns just 10%.
But Washington blames imaginary "Chinese debt traps" for the nation's crisis, as it negotiates a 17th IMF bailout.https://t.co/Tk49cuLvNS
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