Gus Mathews in UK
Please take time (about 16 minutes) to watch this video that explains in detail the financial issues facing Sri Lanka and a whole host of other countries….
https://thuppahis.com/2022/07/30/jayati-ghosh-exposes-the-imf-role-in-the-crisis-in-sri-lanka-and-elsewhere/ …… Doctor Jayati-Ghosh exposes the IMF role in the crisis in Sri Lanka and elsewhere
In Sri Lanka despite some of the ‘own goals’ of economic mismanagement like the tax cuts, the rush to organic agriculture that exacerbated an already fragile economy due the loss of inward flows of capital from the workers remittances in the Middle East, the loss of tourists due to the pandemic and the Ukraine/Russian war and a whole host of other issues, the speaker very eloquently illustrates that these financial and economic issues are not a zero sum game and that inaction by the IMF could push the global economy into an unmitigated global recession. She also argues that it is within the power of the IMF and by allusion the Western economies to resolve this issue.
She also slays the shibboleth that is the propaganda mantra of the USA and its allies that economic issues facing countries in Asia, Africa and South America are due to debts owed to China (the mythical ‘debt trap’ so beloved of Western commentators).
As many erudite economists have indicated that Sri Lanka’s debt to China is only ten percent of its total debt and by far the lion’s share of the debt is held by Western financial institutions at exorbitant interest and payment terms in ISBs (International Sovereign Bonds). Unfortunately the technocrats advising the GoSL prioritised the payments of these ISBs instead of defaulting and managing these resources for the good of the population of Sri Lanka who have felt the full brunt on the shortages of fuel and essential goods.
Please click on the link below………..
Gus Mathews is a Sri Lankan of achachaaru mix in ethnic lineages who lives in Britain and has relatives in Perth, Lanka and elsewhere. His commentary, in my experience, is always concise and sharp. This was an EMAIL NOTE which I have transferred to Thuppahi so that a wider audience can benefit from his thoughts.
His comments on the debate around Hambantota port in Thuppahi a few years back are of the same quality and are worth revisiting.
