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Debt Trap
"Just one spell of rain, and a week's work is gone," said Ramvati, sitting beside a half-formed row of soggy bricks outside her home in the western UP village of Nanau. She and her husband had molded 1,600 bricks over two days none of them counted, none paid for. The light drizzle lasted only a few hours, but it wiped out five days of their wages. March to June are traditionally the most productive months for brick kiln workers in western Uttar Pradesh, as the clear, scorching days provide ideal conditions for drying molded bricks under the open sky. But in recent years, that critical window has been lost due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms. "There were barely 15 to 20 days of proper sunshine in May and June combined," said Ramesh Singh, a kiln supervisor in Bulandshahr. The rest of the days were marked by cloudy skies, high humidity, or sudden rain conditions that turned drying fields into slush and halted production repeatedly. As a result, workers lost not only bricks but
President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said substantial progress" has been achieved in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring, which he said provided the much-needed breathing space for the cash-strapped country to transform its bankrupt economy into a resilient and stable one. Briefing Parliament on the country's resulting benefits of the correct course of action, President Wickremesinghe also countered the Opposition's criticism of the debt restructuring agreement with major bilateral creditors and promised to table all agreements and documents related to it to a Parliamentary panel. In April 2022, the island nation declared its first-ever sovereign default since gaining Independence from Britain in 1948. The unprecedented financial crisis led President Ranil Wickremesinghe's predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit office in 2022 amid civil unrest. Earlier last week, President Wickremesinghe announced that debt restructuring agreements were finalised with bilateral lenders, including ..
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday countered the Opposition's criticism of the cash-strapped country's external debt restructuring agreement with major bilateral creditors and promised to table all agreements and documents regarding debt restructuring to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny. The planned two-day debate in Parliament on the deal was, however, postponed as Opposition members protested the lack of transparency regarding the agreements reached. Dismissing the Opposition's criticism as inaccurate, Wickremesinghe argued, No bilateral creditor would agree to a reduction of principal amount. Instead, concessions are allowed through extended repayment periods, grace periods and lower interest rates. The president, who also holds the portfolio as the finance minister, said the agreements with bilateral creditors include extending principal repayments until 2028, maintaining interest rates below 2.1 per cent, and extending the full debt resettlement grace period
The federal government's gross national debt has surpassed USD 34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America's balance sheet in the coming years. The US Treasury Department issued a report on Tuesday logging US finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shut down without an annual budget in place. Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed last June to temporarily lift the nation's debt limit, staving off the risk of what would be a historic default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Here are some answers to questions about the new record national debt. HOW DID THE NATIONAL DEBT HIT USD 34 TRILLION? The national debt eclipsed USD 34 trillion several years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office's January 2020 projections had gross federal debt eclipsing USD 34 trillion in fiscal year 2029. B
As Sri Lanka and India marked their 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023, New Delhi has again emerged as a steadfast ally of Colombo, playing a pivotal role in the debt-trapped island nation's steady economic recovery. When the unprecedented economic turmoil struck Sri Lanka last year, India swiftly extended a lifeline to the country with assistance of over USD 4 billion, surpassing the International Monetary Fund's 48-month bailout of about USD 3 billion. The timely financial support from India was a testament to the strong bond between the two countries. Sri Lanka, acknowledging India's role, successfully navigated the IMF negotiations in March this year, crediting India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her role during the early stages of discussions with the global lender. A significant development was Sri Lanka's decision to utilise the first tranche of USD 330 million of the IMF bailout to repay Indian loans. This underscored India's patience and generosity
The Asian Development Bank said on Friday that it has approved USD 200-million concessional loan to debt-stricken Sri Lanka to help stabilise the country's finance sector following an unprecedented economic crisis that engulfed the Indian Ocean island nation last year. The bank's announcement comes as Sri Lanka is awaiting International Monetary Fund approval for the second installment of a USD 2.9-billion bailout package to rescue the country from bankruptcy. The ADB said its Financial Sector Stability and Reforms Program for Sri Lanka includes two subprogrammes of USD 200 million each that would help strengthen the stability and governance of the country's banking sector, and deepen sustainable and inclusive finance, particularly for women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The programme's overarching development objective is fully aligned with the country's strategy of maintaining finance sector stability, while ensuring that banks are well-positioned for eventual ..
Fiji's leader says that after meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, he hopes to collaborate with China on upgrading his nation's shipyards and ports. Sitiveni Rabuka made the remarks to lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday. Rabuka is generally viewed as leaning less toward China than his predecessor Frank Bainimarama, and in a visit to Australia last month, Rabuka emphasized he was more comfortable dealing with traditional friends such as Australia. But in his Wednesday remarks, Rabuka highlighted the economic ties his small South Pacific island nation has forged with China over 50 years of diplomatic relations. Rabuka said that in his meeting with Xi last week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco, he discussed how China's assistance was pivotal to Fiji's post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Rabuka said China's Belt and Road Initiative aligned with Fiji's development agenda and that China had contributed toward a number of grants a