Sri Lanka faces an uncertain path to obtaining bailout funding from the International Monetary Fund, while the existing terms of the agreement itself will exacerbate the ongoing economic crisis. Moreover, Sri Lanka’s difficulty in securing the consent of bilateral and private creditors amid great power rivalry reflects the unravelling of the global order. Is there an alternative to austerity in this conjuncture, including possibilities for self-sufficiency?
The impact and relevance of protests demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, referred to as the aragalaya, need to be scrutinised with respect to the issues related to the ethnic conflict, the truth and justice demands of the Tamil community and post-war state action, such as militarisation, which exacerbated the discrimination and violence suffered by the Tamils.
Many have argued that the current Sri Lankan crisis was caused by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, and the country’s overdependence on predatory Chinese lending. Sri Lanka’s problems are more deep-rooted and have their origins in economic policy that focused on providing fi scal sops and a family-run political establishment that enabled the government to ignore sound advice.
The authoritarian populist tendencies of an excessive personalisation of power, curtailment of civil liberties, circumvention of the rule of law, and increasing militarisation of state apparatus have exacerbated Sri Lanka’s lurch towards illiberal democracy, thereby precipitating the grave economic and humanitarian crises.
The flow of bank credit is crucial to revive the economy. The fear of potential asset quality woes has reduced the risk appetite of banks. Going beyond the restructuring support, banks need policy support by relaxations in prudential norms in the near term to be normalised in the next four–fi ve years. Coping with the adversities of the pandemic needs a collaborative policy support of all stakeholders to step up the lending appetite.
This paper highlights the possible consequences of the pandemic on the stock markets. It notes that higher profitability in the past years, better growth opportunities in the stock market, and being a stand-alone firm have a favourable impact on stock price reactions to COVID-19 shocks and, hence, they make such firms more resilient.
This study examines technology diffusion resulting from foreign direct investment in the domestic manufacturing sector in India, by employing unit-level panel data from 2000 to 2007, covering all medium- and large-size manufacturing enterprises. The attempt is to empirically capture evidence of FDI technology spillover effects through two key mechanisms: horizontal spillover and vertical spillover. Vertical spillover effects can be further divided into backward linkages and forward linkages. Technology diffusion can also be the result of both short- and long-term spillover effects.
The pandemic has led to the loss of many livelihoods due to the economic crisis. In order to curb the ongoing economic crisis from aggravating further, an international fiscal coordination worldwide is the need of the hour.
A challenge set by the Covid-19-induced economic crisis that would be difficult to address is the external debt crisis engulfing developing countries. While the G-20 with its Debt Service Suspension Initiative appeared to recognise the problem, the evidence indicates that the international community is unwilling to do what is needed. There are enough proposals on the table, but inadequate commitment among those sitting around it.
