Item in Newsfirst: “Experts say only debt cancellation offers Sri Lanka a chance of recovery”
DEBT JUSTICE speaks out …….
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fXyBHNj_xWU&feature=youtu.be
SOME COMMENTS
Darini Rajasingham Senanayake in Email to Roberts, 10 January 2023: “Well done.”
Fair Dinkum, One, dated 10 January 2023:
“This article from 2021 in The Guardian reveals 80% of the debt Sudan owes to the UK is to repay interest…. not the original loan. Sudan also has debt with the IMF which has imposed severe austerity measures on Sudan from reducing public spending to eliminating subsidies to devaluing its currency.
Fair Dinkum Two, 10 January 2023:
“Just to go back to an earlier comment that I posted on the two Sri Lankan writers for the Diplomat going on about China being inexperienced in debt restructuring and turning all the focus on China, (I can’t locate that article now), I should add the following which is relevant.
With regard to debt restructuring, the secretive London Club represents over 600 Western creditors – almost all we don’t know who they are due to a lack of transparency. In the past, it has often been the case that whenever there has been talk of restructuring a particular loan, an agreement will be signed between the parties involved requiring 95% of the investors (Westerners) to agree to restructuring. They may get 70%, but rarely (if ever) do they get to 95% of Western creditors agreeing to restructure a loan. So it is not a level playing field when it comes to these two guys fashioning their claims against China with such erroneous statements and flawed assumptions. Sometime ago, and it could have been these two same writers for the Diplomat, they suggested China should work with the London Club, but given the secrecy of the London Club, it would be unwise for China to get involved with this lot of Western oligarchs” (emphasis added by Thuppahi).
If one lives lavishly on borrowed money and then defaults on the debt, sooner or later lenders will be wary of lending in future.
Debt cancellation and dealing with corruption must be considered together. To consider debt cancellation alone without considering the other will keep corrupt rulers happy for another round of corruption.
Which creditor would agree to debt cancellation.Right or wrong Sri Lanka government agreed with all the conditions and the interest rate. We have borrowed above the nose.We are still trying to woo the lending agencies including IMF, world Bank, ADB for more borrowing. The propsal has only an academic value.