Sri Lanka economic crisis

Sri Lanka hosted two high-level delegations from the U.S. in February – including one that opposition parties say was cover for a secret mission by the head of the CIA.

With Beijing extending debt restructuring assurances, the last obstacle in the way of Sri Lanka securing the bailout deal has been removed.

Beijing is resisting cuts to Sri Lanka's debts for fear other borrowers will want similar relief.

Government doctors, university teachers, and other workers from ports and the power and petroleum sectors are calling on the government to lower income taxes.

Colombo is still waiting on Beijing’s approval for debt restructuring.

Reducing allocation for defense will require retrenching soldiers. Cutting loose angry youth with weapons skills is not what the crisis-ridden island needs now.

The Wickremesinghe government plans to more than double tax revenue to be able to meet expenditure without having to print currency.

Sri Lanka is nearly bankrupt and has suspended repaying its $51 billion foreign debt, of which it must repay $28 billion by 2027.

Once again, the country is forced to seek a bailout from the IMF – with all the costs and benefits that entails.

The country has always has a sizable diaspora of migrant workers. But now many people are leaving not just to better themselves but out of sheer necessity.

The ADB cut its estimate for growth in Asia’s developing economies to 4.3 percent, down from an earlier forecast of 5.2 percent. But the slowdown is not evenly distributed.