On September 1, debt-trapped Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a 48-month extended fund facility of US.9 billion, which hardly covers the country’s outstanding debt, nor its immediate survival needs.Nevertheless, IMF structural adjustment requires the country to meet its familiar debt-restructuring conditions: privatization of state-owned enterprises, cutbacks of social safety nets, and alignment of local economic policy with US and other Western interests.There are already signs that these policies will be detrimental to the well-being of ordinary Sri Lankans and the sovereignty of the country and will inevitably lead to more wealth disparity and repeat debt crises.…Neocolonialism at work using the institutions of the Empire.Asia Times
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On September 1, debt-trapped Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a 48-month extended fund facility of US$2.9 billion, which hardly covers the country’s outstanding debt, nor its immediate survival needs.Nevertheless, IMF structural adjustment requires the country to meet its familiar debt-restructuring conditions: privatization of state-owned enterprises, cutbacks of social safety nets, and alignment of local economic policy with US and other Western interests.
There are already signs that these policies will be detrimental to the well-being of ordinary Sri Lankans and the sovereignty of the country and will inevitably lead to more wealth disparity and repeat debt crises.…
Neocolonialism at work using the institutions of the Empire.
Asoka Bandarage