Skip to main content

Sri Lanka's IMF bailout.

 On Monday, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said that the executive board of the International monetary fund has approved a $2.9 billion bailout which will give access to $7 billion funding as Sri Lanka recovers from its worst economic crisis in its

 received assurances to restore debt sustainability from the Country's biggest bilateral donors which are China, India and Japan. Sri Lanka will get the first $330 million tranche in the next two days. As last year Economic mismanagement coupled with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic left Sri Lanka severely short of dollars for essential imports at the beginning of last year. while this package is hardly sufficient to tide over Sri Lanka's crisis, it will help the

 country restore its credibility with international private creditors. On Wednesday Wickremesinghe said that "This sets the stage for Sri Lanka to have better fiscal discipline and improved  government This $3 billion is expected to catalyze additional support to the tune of $3.75 billion from the likes of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other lenders. This clears the way for Sri Lanka to rework a substantial part of 484 billion worth of public Debt This would give Sri Lanka $7 billion in overall funding.

 However, this funding by IMF will not immediately help million of Sri Lankans, who are being squeezed by soaring costs of living, higher income taxes and a 66% increase in power tariffs. This comes at a times when the president is under fire from Sri Lanka's opposition parties as well as from civil society groups and trade union who led last year Aragalaya Movement. This was the 17 IMF bailout for Sri Lanka and the third since 2009.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

 Introduction: China's nuclear arsenal is growing at an alarming rate. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported in June 2023 that China's nuclear arsenal grew by 17% in 2022, to an estimated 410 warheads. This is the largest annual increase in China's nuclear arsenal since 1964. The Pentagon has warned that China could have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035. The G7 leaders have warned that China's nuclear build-up is a threat to global stability. Body: There are several reasons why China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. One reason is that China is concerned about the rise of the United States as a military power in the Asia-Pacific region. China sees the United States as a potential threat to its security, and it is therefore seeking to deter a US attack. Another reason for China's nuclear build-up is that China is concerned about the nuclear capabilities of its neighbors, such as India and Russia. China wants to ensure that it has...

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) - A tense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over the placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba.

  The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): A Tense Standoff and Nuclear Threat In the annals of history, the year 1962 marks a critical turning point in the Cold War era as it witnessed the unfolding of the intense and nail-biting confrontation known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. This historic event brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of a devastating nuclear conflict, fueled by the placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. In this article, we delve into the dramatic events, significant players, and the far-reaching consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Background: Superpower Rivalry and Strategic Stakes At the heart of the Cuban Missile Crisis lay the ongoing power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War tension between these two superpowers had been escalating, with both sides vying for global influence and ideological supremacy. The United States, under President John F. Kennedy, sought to maintain its dominant position in the We...

India's success export story of Sugar.

 Building export market takes effort. Overseas buyers need to be convinced about the price competitiveness, product quality, and the reliability of supplies from the exporting country. March 31, 2023, India's sugar export can cross5.5 billion i.e. which is about 45,000 crore. For this sugar season(October 2022 to September 2023), the According to data of 2021  government has issued a quota of 61 lakh tonnes of sugar exports. Out of this, about 55 lakh tonnes have been already exported and the remaining quantity will also be exported soon.  Types of Grades of sugar Raw Sugar: it is what mills produce after the first crystallization of juice obtained from crushing the cane. This sugar is rough and brownish in color, with a ICUMSA (International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis) value of 600-1200 of higher, ICUMSA is the measure of the purity of sugar based on color. The lower the value, the more the whiteness. Much of the world's sugar trade is in 'raw' a...