Colombo: On 'The Gist', Direct From Colombo, Nitin A. Gokhale, Founder and Editor-in-Chief StratNews Global and BharatShakti in conversation with Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.
Skyrocketing inflation, weak government finances, ill-timed tax cuts and the Covid-19 pandemic, which hurt the important revenue-generating tourism industry and foreign remittances, have wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan economy over the past several months. Food prices have shot up by as much as 25% in the last month alone. The country's foreign currency reserves have plummeted by about 70% since January 2020 to around $2.3 billion by February 2022, even as it faces debt payments of about $4 billion through the rest of the year.
Nitin Gokhale discusses his meeting with "the beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is battling Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis, some of the blame which certainly lies with his government, but how recklessly profligate earlier regimes are no less guilty, the Covid-induced downturn, the President acknowledging that the situation is tough and debt restructuring and a bailout from the IMF is the only way out, how India has been most helpful during this unprecedented crisis and has promised more assistance if needed."
Editor's Note: StratNews regrets intermittent lip-sync issues because of local network strength variations.
#LankaCrisis #PresGotabaya #IndiaLanka
StratNewsGlobal is your one-stop destination for strategic analysis from an Indian perspective. Since many of our well-wishers requested a UPI payment id to contribute and support us, here’s the link: [ Ссылка ]
If you like our work and want us to do more, do consider donating and subscribing. Every bit helps. 🙏
Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Press the 🔔 icon to get the latest updates
Ещё видео!