The Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 เม.ย. 2022
- My thanks to a viewer and friend of the channel for recommending this topic.
Errata:
9:36 I added a few too many zeroes when reading this. The numbers for 1978 and 1982 respectively are around 193k and 407k. Thanks to viewer Reihshan who emailed me.
Source: sltda.gov.lk/storage/common_m...
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Nothing about the fertilizer ban? The ban on fertilizer has contributed to very low farm yields.
The definition of low is a question. I think we should look at the compararive figures of yield before and after the ban. Also should check is as to whether there was a reduction of import cost of fertiliser after the ban ...and other factors and do a proper analysis. Tks
I think there was a 40% drop in agri production. Wion did a good piece on Srilankan crisis.
Most of the fertilizer were imported. When the govt knew it will run out of reserves it banned it under different reason. The ban on fertilizer is the result of the crisis not the cause of it.
It's not a problem in itself, organic exports could more than pay for all the country's food consumption, however its been done too quickly and badly managed.
Yeah honestly we have apatite rocks just lying there. Just crushing it better than importing shady imported organic fertilizers.
I am surprised there was no mention of compulsory shift to organic farming that was touted as a great achievement by SL president on international forums. This resulted in drastic decrease in food production.
Actually, fertilizer is more expensive than organic now - so it´s actually a way to save face, would have happened either way.
@@thetaomega7816 Organic farming uses fertilizer too, mainly animal manure rather than ammonium nitrate. It also has significantly lower yields, so you have to price it in $ per calorie for food, or $ per kg for their main export - tea. Sri Lanka does not produce sufficient animal manure to cover the requirements of their crops, especially tea.
Using animal and other biomass such as wood pulp and stalks requires land and energy to prepare it - shredding, turning and fire prevention (aerobic processes get rather hot).
They simply had no intention to promote organic farming or anything. There were subsidies for fertilizers ( chemical) and they wanted to cut it down. Instead of announcing they're removing the subsidies, deceived the people with a fake organic farming movement while restricting importing fertilizers. Eventually the subsidies were removed and fertilizers were allowed to be imported, at a massive loss in agriculture production.
This organic one was a joke to scam more money for themselves.... food production fell more than 50%+!
True. I was also waiting for this issue to be mentioned since it greatly affected their export during the height of the pandemic.
I’m a Sri Lankan and I have been watching your content for a while. Thanks for covering my little country with its corrupt politicians. We’re trying our best to change and kick them out.
Who elected this war criminal and for what? it's called Karma, This government was elected by Sinhalese to massacre minorities but it fired back 😀
Soon in time, the Rajapaksha family name has been shamed and is currently in the dirt. He can try to stay in power as long as he wants but this greedy pig has lost the respect and trust of the people he supposedly serves.
Corruption is part of the political system in any country. The 100% curb of corruption is impossible. Steps to increase the transparency is the only option to curtail it.
Kicking corrupt politicians out is the first half. Second half is having less corrupt ones.
Sri Lankan and a long time subscriber of Asianometry here. Besides the political mismanagement, nepotism and corruption the root causes of economic downfall were in our economic policies.
- Unsustainable welfare state. We have been living on too much government subsidies even from 1950'S. Food, Fuel, Electricity and many more has subsidies ( still do). Government had to pay for them by taking loans over and over again. Hence debt rose throughout the years finally crashing in 2021-2022. No party took power preferred to cut the subsidies since they would definitely lose the next election. People love free stuff way too much over here :(
- Massive and inefficient government sector. Out of 22 Million total population, there are more than 1 Million government sector workers. More than half of these doesn't do much for productivity and mostly got the job by political appointments. Almost all the government corporations runs with massive losses which are in return paid by the treasury.
- Lack of freedom for free market economy. It's required to obtain licenses to import/export or even sell some well profitable goods ( rice, tea, alcohol, gas, oil, flour etc.). These licenses are exclusively offered to the henchmen of the politicians who has political influence. As a result there is simply no competition and those people sell stuff for any price they wish. No need to mention the consequences of such mafias on economy :(
- Huge investments on infrastructure with little to no returns at all. We have been spending too much money on infrastructure ( with loans ). I believe some projects would have indeed boosted the economy ( hambanthota port, Colombo port city, expressway projects) but most were totally useless white elephants ( mattala airport, lotus tower, convention centers, jogging tracks etc.).
- Maintaining a flag career airline with massive losses ( Sri Lankan Airlines). This is something we can't afford yet functional to this day. We're literally paying money for other people to take rides :(
Wow
This is like how Indian system was before the 1999 liberalization.
Hope that the rajapaksa family is overthrown and their wealth is confiscated.
Thankfully free market in India has taken its roots.
Several government departments like telecom, and airline were reduced or outright shut down.
Yes there's a long way to go, and having large population does makes it to absorb impacts of any economic slump
Right now what's needed in Sri Lanka is becoming power self sufficient (keep the organic and renewable on hold), fix your railway, and keep your politicians out of Chinese pockets.
Also, no matter what, do not let communists take over your media and universities
I think government sector employment is close to 1.6 Million at the moment. And this does not include state owned enterprises which probably employs an extra 0.6M . Essentially quarter of the workforce is handled by the government.
Political party bosses essentially allocated every local MP government jobs based on his and his area's importance to the party for victory. Then, the winning party MP s give jobs to his local party campaign activists and their relatives based on their importance to him.
Sri Lanka is a country which collects one of the least amount of taxes and other government revenue per GDP. By 2019, it was at around 12% of GDP. After the massive tax cuts of December 2019 and the pandemic, it has dropped to under 8%. This is probably the lowest for a non-low-income, non-oil-producing country. Yet a massive government sector is maintained by borrowing money in local currency, foreign currency and printing money.
Sri Lanka has always printed money to control rising interest rates due to excessive government borrowing. However, during the last 2 yearsthis went into an overdrive. Interest rates were dropped from around 10% to 4%. Central bank just printed and lent to the government at 4% when no one bought bonds at auction. This was justified with pointing to US and Japan how they have more debt than us and their printing of money. Bartender AOC's Modern Monetary Theory was very useful for the politicians and their servant bureaucrats as well.
Thanks for the wonderful post Anuradha. Prayers for Sri Lanka.
Just also add the Sweet Debt Trap from the Chinese, whereabout more than $22 billion Dollars Direct and Indirect loan distribution causes the Yearly Interest Payment from the Yearly Budget Costs, at about more than 30% of the Revenue need to be paid for the Loan itself.
th-cam.com/video/ifhx5GqMeNQ/w-d-xo.html
as a Sri Lankan I greatly appreciate your informative video it's a very accurate summation of the current situation. As you hinted corruption is the route for most of our problems as we were investing in development projects that weren't going to have any economic benefits adding to it the political culture of no one being accountable for their actions it's very disappointing. But as the current situation unravels I personally see that the ethnic divide that was created by the ruling class to stay in power has somewhat subsided and that people have come to understand our mistakes in choosing the leaders.
Hope your people will overcome this crisis.
@@marlonbrade9004 thanks bro
Which ever leader you select, make sure you address the concerns of the Tamils and reconcile with them. Without unity with the minorities and working together, Sri Lanka will never thrive.
@@Cumaran As a Sri Lankan, I agree the first people this government should apologize and tried by are the Tamil people in the North and the East, the literal Genocide that these people have committed should be admitted by the Government and the people that put them to power.
@@Dazumu well said as an ethnic Tamil myself but borne in the western province I am grateful that people have come this far in such a short time only through unity and a holistic approach to development can our nation truly reach its full potential.
A really excellent summary of the history and the situation. Your work is top notch.
Your videos are timely, informative and well researched . . . the minute I see you've another video uploaded it's an insta-click
Nah not that frequent. He posts at least 1-2 videos per week. Yes his research are totally unbiased unless the Internet says Soo. Reliable neutral info is what you get off of every asianometry video's
It's a CCP Propaganda
@@darlington2870 dude grow up. No propaganda will let a whole country starve.
Maybe greedy one's have consumed wealth.
Next up India will authorize SL to integrate with India as one off state with independent immunity. If this state continues in SL.
Dear Sri Lankan people,
Call for a referendum to Join India or China permanently. Please do not bother with your political parties. They are all corrupt. The main issue is small countries like Sri Lanka cannot survive among the global capitalism and market economy. Your economy will always be under threat whatever you do. This is why certain countries are always on top of the league in economy and politics. I would strongly suggest you to call for a national referendum to join with China or India indefinitely. Sovereignty, Democracy, and Freedom are for text books and media only. These do not exist in real world. We are all slaves to the capitalism and market economy anyway. Therefore, you will need to join with a big stable country like China or India who are much more stable than Sri Lanka. If you join with China or India permanently, eventually your people will have better living standard than struggling with your corrupted politicians. You will have more chance to join with China than India because majority of voters are Buddhist. Please take my words. It can be done. Have a go with national referendum in order to join India or China. All the best.
It's a instant upvote
I knew I knew little about Sri Lanka, but I didn't know I knew so little.
What an interesting story and very good told. Thank you!
Well done. Solid facts with little speculation. Good point about the "Chinese debt trap diplomacy". People who run that line rarely mention how much a country owes to the international market.
the issue is that the IMF is a consortium of many countries so there isn't one country who can trap the debtors. china directly giving money gives them enormous power over what happens
That chart of China's 11% is clearly misleading. You can clearly see debt to China is way more than he is claiming.
China owns only 10% of the total Sri lankan debt, the rest is to IMF. Take a look at that 10%, it built infrastructures that Sri Lanka needs. Try to scour the internet where that 90% debt to IMF went. Blame IMF and Sri Lanka, not China.
@@rap3208 It's has built infra that Sri Lanka needs? No my friend that's not the case & my friend from Colombo has very colourful words for china. Colombo Port project is a joke, Colombo has enough land to develop but no china reclaimed sea to make it expensive. Having fancy looking buildings may boost your ego & image but 1st you need to have a good economy to support that. Fancy looking buildings & landscapes can't take you to the development path.
China refuses to refinance the debt, instead they seize assets. IMF refinances and doesn't seize assets, clearly the dollar value of debt doesn't tell the whole story, and how about interest rates? CCP love half-baked deflections like this.
I spent 2002-2005 in Colombo putting in the cranes on the port for the Argentinians.
A wonderful country with kind humble people.
I will always have a special place in my heart for this country and it's people.
The ruling elite is the worst.
The people however are amazing.
Sri Lanka people donate the most eyes in the world
FYI... Not every citizen can't participate in the military. Only Singhalese people can join the military. Does anyone call it a democratic country?
@@mars-cs4uk there are tamils and muslims in sri lanka military.
@@mars-cs4uk There are many forms of democracy. Ironically the most undemocratic democracy going by your argument was the original Athenian one. Democracy has always been a spectrum, not a binary. Also the military isn't a part of its definition. And finally as the other guy said, there are some Tamilians and Muslims in their military.
@@visuli2726 you are a lier. Then send me the government document. They are working in the kitchen mean they are in military. Now you know why you begging every country? Rajabakse stole public money 19 billion US dollars and he and his family should be in jail
Excessive Government work force (nearly 1M occupied as government workers) is another major problem to SL economy.
How? The global economy is collapsing anyway, we'll all end taking those jobs.
@@thursoberwick1948 Because those workers have to be paid by the government through taxes, or debt.
@@dasbubba841 So do private workers much of the time. Have you not noticed that a lot of the work private companies do now is for governments? In many cases, the profit is privatised and the debt is public.
Sri Lanka has a population of less than 22 million with a under 15 years old of more than 5 million. Based on that, the employable population is pribably 14 million, after removing the retired and old people. If the government employs 1 million, that means the for every 15 people, one is a government employee, which is absurb number and could mean two things - massive bureaucracy and/or state corporation monopolies. I think it is bith because if industries are not massively state-owned, its foreign reserves would not be heavily burdened. At the moment, gas and petroleum products are inadequate because the country can not buy it because it does not have foreign reserve. Its foreign obligtion is 6 billion dollars this year and its foreign reserve is down to a billion dollar.
Thanks from SriLanka for discussing this topic ! 🇱🇰
it's called Karma, This government was elected by Sinhalese to massacre minorities but it fired back 😀
Heiii great and informative video as always, everytime i watched your video i want to learn more about the topic you talked about, would it be possible if you link your sources for further Readings in your videos? i think it would be a great way for people to learn about the topic more indept.
Great video but jeez the amount of stupid spam comments and "investment advice" comments this early is insane.
bots are fast
very sophisticated bots. They're doing entire threads now. I'm kinda impressed.
Report them all!
I know I do~
Great review. No frills and to the point.
Nicely done. Very informative
I went to Sri Lanka in 2018 on some eat, pray, love bullshit after a breakup. I rode trains around and looked at all the cultural stuff, it was fantastic. Take me back to 3rd class on the rails thru the mountains! Right after I left there was social unrest and they shut down facebook.
Eat, pray, love should be the understated bullshit of the tourism economy.
You broke up and so you felt compelled travel to Sri Lanka to eat, pray and love? WTF? LOL
@@Anonymous-pm7jf Man's gotta do what he gotta do to cope, why you mad?
@@Anonymous-pm7jf no homie, it’s a reference to that movie where the girl goes to India for some esoteric soul searching reason. The movie is called Eat, Pray, Love. It’s a chick flick
Haha! 😄 "Eat, pray, love bullshit"!
1h up, 96 comments. You are killing it! The engagement definitely reflects the love for the relevance and quality of your videos!
A lot of these comments are scams
77 scam comments spread over 4 threads. The curse of being an economics channel I guess
@@user-hv6wb5gk8p how did you discern and then count the scam comments? like did u run a script? just curious on the technical side.
Half of srilankas economy is "knit textiles and textile fibers".. What an amazing country.
Well made video.. learnt a lot.
'..it is so sad that the country whose ancient name Serendip has given the English language the word Serendipity, is now the epitome of conflict, pain, sorrow an hopelessness' - Lee Kuan Yew
I’m lousy
Read some epics from India, like Ramayana , you will get an understanding of Sri lanka's ancient name.
@@adarshvnair Why India? You should read ancient Sri Lankan texts, it's about Sri Lanka after all.
Serendip is actually "Seran Tivu" in Tamil, meaning Tamil Kingdom "Chera's Island"
@@dhanabalathunampillai2280 but there were no tamils in sri lanka before colonization. There were few after chola invasion. But they were not even recognised as an ethnic minority. For thousands of years sri lanka was called ' Sinhale' , which means sinhaleses' country. Sinhale was pronounced by foreigners as Seylam, Seelam, Ceylon, serendip.. etc.
Very interesting analysis. Would you be able to do a series on the poorest countries and how they could economically develop in a competitive ruthless world. For example Somalia is always gripped by drought and floods yet the people rely on rain for most agriculture and pastoralism, which is a recipe for disaster. Thanks.
seems a difficult one. The economy should support farmers in the dry time, yet provide labour force in a good season to help with planting and harvest.
@@liam3284 yeah your right. Somalia is like an economists dream because it's so underdeveloped yet so difficult to solve. There is so much potential but also so many obstacles. There is Instability because of conflict, which is caused mainly by poverty and this conflict negates development, which in turn prolongs conflict. A vicious never ending cycle.
grow drugs and export to USA and EU !
@@charlibravo371 That part about development and conflicts is quite common in Africa. Henceforth, the old looking infrastructures in most places.
Even as developed as SA is there’s still unnecessary conflicts.
Very sad.
B-roll was great this time. nice
To think if I didn't keep up with creators and journalists like yourself, I'd likely never be aware of this or other events like this. It's truly sad that one must go out of their way to discover and study both past and ongoing events outside the 5 main superpower nations.
Thank you for sharing this and all the other great videos!
Whether it's semiconductor, vlsi or politics,,, ur flow of presentation is exceptional!
Thanks for this ...
First time viewer. Interesting analysis. Thanks.
I wish for the best, for: ALL Of Asia.
If you're going down this rabbit hole, Nepal is on the edge as well
All of South Asia except India is on the edge,and even then India only hang by the skin of their teeth due to neoliberal policies increasing forex reserves
A lot of this can be pinned to the halting of economic liberalization of the 90's,populism and increasing oil prices
@@ihavenojawandimustscream4681 The Maldives is doing fine, so is Bhutan and Bangladesh.
And 30 more other countries !
@@user-jt3dw6vv4x Maldives got loan from India and last ruler was removed so they're fine Bhutan is always chill don't know about Bangladesh may have to look into it
Very accurate presentation of Srilankan economy and the history since the Independence.
Thanks for your great analysis. Could you do one on the crisis in Pakistan please? Although it seems mostly political, I suspect deeper long term economic forces at play - I'd appreciate your insights
+1
I'm from Tamilnadu really feels so sad about ur situation hope our TN gov help SL Tamils n Sinhala ppls don't worry guys god will help u ❤️❤️❤️
While they say don’t give donations unless for whole SriLanka 😂
I was waiting for this one
A very detailed video...... thank you...... hopefully, sri lanka will know tamil people potential in economic and have confident in fixing crisis....
Thanks as always. I've been hearing a little bit about what's happening on BBC, but their attention was more on the surface of the issues rather than a more in depth analysis like your own.
My friendly advice; don't listen to BBC about South Asian reports most of the time it's garbage!
Will you do another video on Singapore’s second attempt at Semi-conductor manufacturing ?Like how global foundries investing 4billion and how this could affect Singapore economy?
Really? They will need huge supply of clean water for that. But perhaps they will succeed.
@@sn5301679 That is a true concern. Semiconductor manufacturing demands tons of clean water and hopefully Singapore has enough desalination plant to fulfil that requirement. They cannot depend on neighboring Malaysia to supply them because even Malaysia can have shortage of fresh water in dry seasons especially Johor state which Singapore is adjacent to .
as someone sort-of involved in the semicon industry... GF has openly stated that they wont be pursuing
When you go down to 7nm chips, there is only one global supplier of the machinery - ASML. Each one is 150 million and you need several of those. The water supply would not be their problem but trying to catch up to their neighbours who are already established like Korea (samsung, etc), Taiwan (TSMC). Even the Chinese can’t compete because of ban of sale of ASML to china. Thus Chinese are limited to manufacturing 14 nm chips, which is adequate for many ekectronic products.
Its so detailed and informative
Can you do a video on how import substitution is succesful in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea but failed in South America
Thank you. Much Love from the Philippines.
great video, just a minor observation at 6:00 it's São Paulo, not paolo
Excellent, comprehensive presentation. Bottom line: 'free markets work.' Thanks for posting this!
OMG the level of detail! Interesting to see the GDP/capita comparison of several countries over the years.
Very interesting and informative.
Another great article
Two things destroyed sri Lanka (among others)
They announced they will go 100% organic farming (tea was 30% of their exports)
70% renewable energy within 5 years
Now the agriculture collapsed while the renewable energy never materialised lead to power shortages.
Covid means zero tourism, although covid related situations wasn't as severe in Sri Lanka.
You're channel's one of the best, I would watch it more, but the subject matter is always so grim.
Great summary, very thorough although I feel you could have touched on a few more important points.
Notably the fertilizer ban. This wasn't a removal of subsidies but a straight up ban. At least a ban on its use for food crops, since they allowed it's use for the floral industry (lol).
Anyway this ban came months after a big govt project to improve tea production by subsidising small farmers making nurseries. I know many planters who lost thousands of plants and hundreds of thousands of rupees as a result. Adding to already reduced output. Not to mention stifling production of staple crops, forcing food importation, at a time when global food prices were going to severely increase.
Farmers have already been feeling increased pressure from climate change induced erratic monsoons...
The ban was a symptom of how the government was addressing its low foreign reserves. Since these are imported products, and sri lanka has low foreign reserve, it banned fertilizer. Bad idea but it would not cost the country 60 billion dollars in debt. Decades of mismanagement and corruption is the culprit.
Hi John. i get excited (no homo) when i see you've uploaded a vid I really enjoy the longer +15 mins videos. You are a legend! :) Thank you.
Very high quality analysis, kudos!
Do you think Egypt is on the same path of Sri Lanka? I see a lot of resemblance in heavy dependency on unsolicited construction projects and ports, with enormous foreign debt and slow advancements in value added exports. Also a lot of foreign buy-outs for local profit-making public & private sectors, lower subsidies, health & edu spending contrary to huge growing military spending.
And dependence on ukrainian and russian food imports. This will greatly hit north africa in a few months
Atleast you guys have suez canal to finance a little portion of your of bugget
Not only Sri Lanka also Argentina
@@thetaomega7816 That's where India comes in( If WTO permits, but ofcourse US wouldn't want that).
EDIT: Egypt has agreed to buy wheat from us.
Dear Sri Lankan people,
Call for a referendum to Join India or China permanently. Please do not bother with your political parties. They are all corrupt. The main issue is small countries like Sri Lanka cannot survive among the global capitalism and market economy. Your economy will always be under threat whatever you do. This is why certain countries are always on top of the league in economy and politics. I would strongly suggest you to call for a national referendum to join with China or India indefinitely. Sovereignty, Democracy, and Freedom are for text books and media only. These do not exist in real world. We are all slaves to the capitalism and market economy anyway. Therefore, you will need to join with a big stable country like China or India who are much more stable than Sri Lanka. If you join with China or India permanently, eventually your people will have better living standard than struggling with your corrupted politicians. You will have more chance to join with China than India because majority of voters are Buddhist. Please take my words. It can be done. Have a go with national referendum in order to join India or China. All the best.
Would love for you to do a break down of LTT new video where they go inside intel new fab plant in tel-aviv
WATCH THE VIDEO. This video needs to be SHARED again and again.. the content was really deep and insightful. he included financial facts and numbers. I really cannot get why content creators need to paint such a dramatic picture and stir politics and half truths and also not even explain what is happening to any part of the situation.
This is further proof that European models of economy and governance will simply not work on countries that are demographically and culturally very different from Europe. Every country needs its own unique solution, rather than copying what some other country did.
I can agree with this. Unlike our western counterparts, countries in the east are much more ethnically diverse
one thing for sure socialism and others no go.
Exaclty, I feel China or other east Asian models actually work in Asia, because if there is no real government intervention and private partnership things will turn ugly in Asia. I am from India, we are doing okish I guess, but surely can learn a thing or two from China, S.Korea, Vietnam etc
I'd like to see a video on historical Debt to GDP management policies in the Asian economies.
It's "Sri Lack" because it debted the world trillions of dollars and pounds and euros in default payments. I felt that the country had forgotten about tax collecting and instead it prefer a low tax for the people, and that's why it defaulted on its own debt.
Lmfao 😹
The problem happened because of covid. Srilanka biggest income from tourism.
Not a trillion usd...it's a 51 billion usd
Funny because "Sri" also means money in sanskrit
@@therocketmanprince682 no- its because if the corrupted politicians
It would be wrong to blame everything on Chinese investment. This was purely bad economic management on the part of the Sri Lankan government.
Hi can you please do one for Nepal.
joe blogs has recently posted vids on sri lanka's more recent problems.
th-cam.com/users/JoeBlogs
The drop in inflation was not because the economy was doing well but because the basket of goods used to track inflation being heavily modified whilst leaving the past number unadjusted... automatic drop in inflation. To date official inflation is below 20% but if you look at the previous basket of goods, it has crossed 50%
Great one 🌟
Interesting analysis that is good on economics but not quite so good on history. I was there seven years ago and was very pleased to see how forward looking the people were and how many had been economically lifted too. My big concern though was that nearly all the governmental structures that should have been modernised and streamlined were hopelessly archaic and had barely changed in fifty years, making everything extremely difficult to manage, practically speaking, and acting as an obstacle to meaningful development. As this was clearly not the fault of the people who seemed resilient, hardworking and to have given their all to create this forward looking and very positive society, it had to be a chronic lack of investment by government in the infrastructures that help things run well. Individual Sri Lankans were clearly invested in development themselves and the enterprising aspects to this were everywhere. But there were HUGE vanity projects in all sorts of places including very unviable locations, that were really not in keeping with what the country really needed. Like other small nations lured into these kinds of ‘investments’ it looked as if such projects would have to be serviced for a long time to the detriment of the nation as a whole. They did not look like good choices and it was likely that huge amounts were being siphoned off, and away from the running of the country, now dominated by one family. On top of the huge amount of war debt that had stacked up it looked sad but foreboding, so it was very clear the pandemic would hit it harder and earlier that other countries in similar situations. I think it is likely to be just the first of many. The world would do well to support SL now not just to get on its feet again, but to enabling it to address the structural failings of government, and assisting it to make the political changes needed to prevent it falling into the hands of such an elite few, with such corrupt behaviours. It has been very interesting to watch the popular movement there that seems to have rebalanced the very old divide and rule narratives and replaced them with a very strong unifying attitude. Let’s hope this prevails. In the meantime the world needs to prepare itself for other collapsing economies, and ensure something that is both robust and equitable for the future.
One bad move after another 🤦the started out so well but dropped the ball
Thank you for the information. I am from the Philippines.
I was born in SL. Never lived there for almost 45 years. Been there only twice and the last trip was in 1995. You really hit the nail on the cross. The crisis started when the constitution of SL was created after the independence and ignored all the Tamils, Moors, Burghers, and the Malays. When you ask for trouble, trouble always will find you. It is a shame that I have to read this from a country that had a GDP higher than most SE Asian nations in the 70s and 80s. and is now unable to pay their debts to all those who helped them. People's power is the only solution. I live in Florida with all the best life can offer. But this makes my heart bleed.
Love your video! Can you do one on the current Indian scenario?
Been there back in 2019 with my bf. One of the best countries I’ve ever been to! Rich in natural resources
where are you from? Just curious!
@@roro4787 Philippines
Great video. Some inputs from myself
1. How Sri Lanka ended the civil war was horrific. The last push killed thousands of people in matter of couple of weeks?
2. The Rajapaksa family is a virus on its people. The rumor is they stole billions and funneled to another country worsening the situation Sri Lanka was in during the pandemic
3. Yes Chinese debt is 10% overall but it is the terms of the loan was another problem. You can see harsh terms with other countries as well and the effects from it. Another factor to the crisis
4. The Tsunami in 2004 had a major impact as well
5. Like you mentioned many left Sri Lanka to seek better opportunities....this I believe the good and intelligent people left and what was left created conflicts and further crisis.
thats the debt trap is not true, it is only the propaganda from India and the West because those debts are given based on the proper legal terms that Srilanka accepted, its not like China forced lanka to take, it's just like u taking a loan from a bank with collateral. Of course, if u don't pay your bank will seize your property. So Srilanka had to invest the debt capital in strategic areas to boost the economy so they could pay back their debt to China, India, IMF, etc. There is no free lunch in this world, u have to pay back the money taken.
The US media completely ignores events in foreign countries so thank you for posting this video.
Great, original vid thanks. A very refreshing take.
I know your focus is not politics and it's not my forte but I thought I'd mention that it was members of the Tamil minority that were getting public sector jobs because of their healthy grasp of the English language, thanks to missionaries and others opening up a bunch of schools and churches in Jaffna, eventually resulting in ethnic jealously from the 'proletariat' members of the majority Sinhalese.
Sinhalese elites would probably have also spoken well due to private or foreign schooling and rubbing shoulders with the establishment (a mix of all ethnicities & remnants of 3 separate European occupations), which would help to explain the class war and all of the communist-influenced parties forming, especially among students (of state universities) but I wasn't aware of it being a 'thing'.
Hence, I wasn't really aware of the (specifically) Tamil-youth-dissatisfaction being much of a thing but then again this could explain Prabhakaran and co.
You learn something new everyday.
The issue with Tamil youth is after the Sinhala only act and then standardization of uni entrance ,, effectively cutting down Tamils’ entry to uni by 50% or more ! So youth have good marks but no good way to go cause private unis are not there and gov is discriminatory… so took matters in their own hands mixed with every other directions of oppression
@@jeyaramsathees6128 it was a terrible decision.. now most of the population have terrible English, for a start
Can you do a version of this for the Philippines?
The same playbook has been going on in Turkey. I see a lot of parallels to what's happening here in Turkey: unhealthy growth through sinking money in "mega" projects (piles of concrete) - which happen to be all commissioned to the same set of contractors attached to the governing clique. Political allegiance overtaking skills and aptitude for the jobs, driving highly skilled people to flee for western countries where they are treated on par their worth... Such a well trodden path for so many nations...
You have covered most of the issues perfectly. It was very informative. Try to make same sort of informative videos on Nepalese economy as well. Surely, for the world to know and help developing economies but also for the Nepalese themselves to understand relative economic drivers for sustainable economy. Same as Sri Lanka, Nepal"s governing bodies are super corrupted and soaked in power placements manipulated by political players in India. Besides that majority of Nepalese people are very humble and nice as Sri Lankans 😊🙂
Is it true that the US is also trying to bribe your government, so that they can set up a military base there? Or is this just nonsense?
The communist party of Nepal is Soaked by placement from India.. let's appreciate the knowledge everyone
Like the economic history srilanka . Well put together
The drastic drop in LKR to USD was primarily due to de-pegging the rupee, not overprinting of currency. Even before the crisis, the black market exchange rate was close to 260 LKR : 1 USD. The 203:1 government rate was artificial.
LoL the Casino rates
Living a life of luxury is like a dream for some people and for others it’s constant reality, the key is having financial stability and strength but the question is how to
I agree with you and I believe that the secret to financial stability is having the right investment ideas to enable you earn more money, I don’t know who agrees with me but either way I recommend either real estate or crypto and stocks.
I’ve always wanted to trade crypto but got confused with the fluctuations in price
I also trade with Mr Charles Wilson, and i must say he makes money making seem a whole lot easier right now I’m a single parent and i pay the bills comfortably since i met Charles Wilson he’s absolutely amazing and I’d recommend him for any novice in crypto.
How do I reach him?
@@stephengreen8733 Reach him on
If it wasn't for this video I wouldn't have known about this problem Sri Lanka is facing. Thank you for such a high quality video!
Among other things, a video on Philippine politics would be interesting, considering that the son of a former dictator has a chance to win the presidency next month. The amount of misiniformation and disinformation have been rampant.
the issue on fertilizer ban was not mentioned. :-)
16:58
They do captured Hambantota Port and was building somekind of Chinese city in Colombo too.
Hoping for the best for sri Lanka.. 💕 Harmony, peace, and love, upon them.
Sir can u make videos about Philippines economy exclamation and how improvement and add awareness if have issue 😊
I don't really see a crisis, rather a country that goes through its regular and cyclical economy; the rise and downfall of a country happen every now and then, we see this type of cycle all over the globe, more so now especially because of the pandemic. I am optimistic that Sri Lanka will bounce back up and recover from this "crisis".
Despite so much spending on infrastructure, the railways in Sri Lanka are crumbling, and the capital city doesn't even have mass transit
What was build was the personal airport and sea port in hambantota for rajapaksa family
17:05 Point to remember, China mostly does off-book lending with undisclosed Principle a d interest rates.
Quite informative
The pandemic didn't do this, the response to it did.
This would be a fine primary school book-report, but it fails to address the current reasons for Sri Lanka's economic woes. Reposting from Kanishq's post above: Two things destroyed sri Lanka (among others)
They announced they will go 100% organic farming (tea was 30% of their exports)
70% renewable energy within 5 years
Now the agriculture collapsed while the renewable energy never materialised lead to power shortages.
Covid means zero tourism, although covid related situations wasn't as severe in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has one of the rarest trees which bark produces real cinnamon, not the fake kind which isn't as healthy or even unhealthy
My mom's trying to build a house there right now, she told her guys to get everything they had paid for out of the store because the store's May soon no longer release their purchases. And the bank that was helping fund this is trying to devest itself.
Can u make a video about Indonesia plz
Excellent video. Thank you for not simply jumping on the 'Chinese debt trap diplomacy' bs bandwagon.
I really wish to hear an evaluation of the Tanzanian economy.
I've heard that a large percentage of their tourists came from Russia and the Ukraine. Neither of them are coming back any time soon.
Yep! Also from India, China & UK!! The problem with Sri Lankan economy is over reliance on services sector with zero to no real manufacturing sector. It's a problem of thier own making!
Pakistan is also in crisis, it will be interesting video to research it
When was Pakistan stable in the first place
Correction. Pakistan is in a mess!
@@singularityraptor4022
True.
@@singularityraptor4022 during madam Bhutto.
I fear the Philippines could end up in a similar situation. The penchants for dubious infrastructure is annoying (short term GDP boost, makes the administration who built it in a good light, but never solves the actual economic problem).
Parang nagpagawa ng skyway. May bayad pero kumain nang malaking space sa kalsada para sa pundasyon kaya mas traffic pa rin
...bro. ....you should abandone FEAR.
Problem with Philippines is a handful of families own it.
Sri Lanka is merely the canary in the coal mine in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. To follow will be several countries in South Asia as well as the MENA region, all dependent on remittances and tourism incomes.
How is Thailand doing by the way?
In general, the Ukraine war has catalyzed a broad-based realignment in economic and, following from that, political equations right across the world faster than we can say “Hambantota”. Interesting times.
Incisive, and insightful, as usual.
Will there be a part two? I feel the surface has only been scratched.
It deserves another part highlighting the energy crisis.
John can you take a look into the Philippines.
Every policy ever since independence was directed at appeasing the Sinhala majority and abusing the Tamil minority. Look at the EPZ map, all EPZ's were in land-locked central areas and the already developed South. EPZ's should have been established in coastal areas of the North and East. Govt avoided that because those are Tamil areas. The fishing and fish export industry was not promoted, because the ideal locations are in Tamil areas. Can you believe an Island Nation like Sri Lanka is importing fish and dry fish from Thailand, Australia, and Iran? The country with the highest rainfall, and green space is importing milk power and Beef, it should be exporting actually. They didn't promote this sector because the ideal drylands are in Tamil areas. Govt promoted garment industry in the Sinhala majority area for which all the raw materials they need they are importing. Even India's garment industry which does not import any raw materials is not able to compete with low-cost countries like Bangladesh, Peru, etc. The list goes on and on.
Part of the problem is direct democracy by popular vote.
Sinhalese will always outvote Tamils. They need a political solution that is fair to all Sri Lankans an good for investment.
@@yanmak2363 - Democracy is the dictatorship of the majority. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a sheep armed with an AK-47 rejecting the choice of lunch.
The genocided and tortured Tamils
Any solution to the problem must address the Tamil concerns and treat them as equal partner. Without them Sri Lanka will only continue to fall behind.
India not able to compete with Bangladesh is because they get prefential treatment & not necessarily because of quality or anything. Bangladesh is doing what India did in the 90's!
Missed the lunacy that was the banning of synthetic fertilisers needed for growing tea
When you have a family cantrolling literally everything than this is bound to happen.
In india it was gandhi family that ruin my country
Like Singapore?
@@thursoberwick1948 Singapore is a small authoritarian govt!!
@@thursoberwick1948 not even close. In Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksha family has like 3-4 major ministerial positions in addition to various powerful other non ministerial powers.
Your videos are always informative but I liked this one especially much, I feel you really tried to look at the various angles of the problem and not just pick one and stick with it.
17:37 Vietnam and Sri Lanka manufacturing comparison