Economic Crisis

Maldives' strategic shift: Domestic priorities induce a thaw with India

As debt looms and foreign reserves dwindle, Muizzu's invitation to PM Narendra Modi and the push for increased Indian tourism highlight a pragmatic approach to foreign relations

IMF team to hold talks with Sri Lanka govt on loans for economic recovery

A high-level team of the International Monetary Fund will arrive in Sri Lanka on Wednesday to meet the new government headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and discuss the latest economic reforms supported by the global lender. On September 24, the IMF said that they would begin talks with the new Lanka government led by President Dissanayake. The global lender said it will discuss the timing of the third review of its ongoing economic reform under a 48-month loan. Former president Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government was negotiating with the IMF for the release of the fourth tranche of the USD 2.9 billion facility. A high-level team led by Krishna Srinivasan, Director for the Asia Pacific Department will be visiting Colombo October 2-4 to meet with President Dissanayake and the new economic team to discuss the latest economic developments and economic reforms under Sri Lankas economic programme supported by the IMF," a release said. This will be the National People's Power .

Pakistan government plans to privatise several institutions or shut them

Earlier on August 22, the federal cabinet approved the privatization of two departments under the Petroleum Division, ARY News reported

Dissanayake's push for Sri Lanka economic change leaves IMF deal in limbo

Adding to the challenge, the prime minister's resignation on Monday meant the cabinet has been dissolved

Here's what is at stake in Sri Lanka's 1st election since economic collapse

Sri Lanka will hold its presidential election on Sept. 21 in a crucial vote that will decide the future of the South Asian nation still struggling to recover from its economic collapse in 2022, which provoked mass protests and forced the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign. The election is seen as a referendum on President Ranil Wickremesinghe's two-year-long rule that has overseen a fragile recovery of the country's economy. He faces a tough challenge from the leader of the opposition in parliament, as well as from a left-leaning politician with a powerful alliance, who is gaining popularity among young voters. Almost 17 million of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are eligible to vote, and 38 candidates are running for office. Who are the main candidates? Wickremesinghe, whose United National Party has been weakened by a split, is running as an independent candidate. Even though Wickremesinghe remains unpopular for carrying out austerity measures

Explained: Himachal's financial woes and efforts to regain fiscal control

Himachal Pradesh government has revoked pensions for disqualified MLAs, withdrawn subsidies, and adjusted salary and pension payments to save costs amid mounting debt and fiscal pressures

WATCH: Thrift store looted on launch day in Karachi amid economic crisis

The incident occurred as cash-strapped Pakistan grapples with a severe economic crisis, making it the slowest-growing economy in South Asia

Bangladesh begins with economic clean-up after Sheikh Hasina's exit

From a distance, Bangladesh was widely perceived as an economic success story, propelled by the world's second-largest garment exports industry

Bangladesh's crisis leaves Adani Power chasing $800 million in dues

The economic crisis in Bangladesh has deepened, with overall arrears reportedly reaching $2 billion

Spiraling electricity bills overtake rent costs for some people in Pakistan

The South Asian nation - where nearly half the population survives on less than $4 a day - has seen electricity prices surge 155 per cent since 2021

Under Milei, worst economic crisis puts Argentine ingenuity to test

In the crush of anti-government protests paralysing downtown Buenos Aires in the last months, some Argentines saw a traffic-induced headache. Others saw a reaction to President Javier Milei's brutal austerity measures. Alejandra, a street vendor, saw people with nowhere to urinate. Plazas provided no privacy and cafes insisted on pricey purchases to use the toilet. With little more than a tent and a bucket, Alejandra started a small business that has surged alongside Argentina's angry rallies and sky-high inflation rate. She charges whatever people are willing to pay. I haven't had a job for a year, it's now my sole income, said Alejandra, who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisals from neighbours. Every four or five patrons, she puts on gloves and empties her bucket into the trash. The political establishment's failure to fix decades of crisis in Argentina explains the tide of popular rage that vaulted the irascible Javier Milei, a self-declared anarcho-capitalist,"

Sri Lanka central bank cuts interest rates to help fuel economic recovery

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) cut the Standing Deposit Facility Rate to 8.25 per cent and the Standing Lending Facility Rate to 9.25 per cent

Sri Lanka strikes pvt debt restructuring deal with bondholders, says min

Sri Lanka has reached a debt restructuring deal with the international sovereign bondholders after protracted negotiations, state finance minister Shehan Semasingher said on Thursday, calling it a "crucial step" in the cash-strapped country's efforts to restore debt sustainability. In a statement, State Minister of Finance Semasinghe said that an agreement on restructuring terms was reached on Wednesday, completing Sri Lanka's debt restructuring process. ISBs (International Sovereign Bonds) account for USD 12.5 billion out of the total external debt of USD 37 billion. This agreement is a crucial step in our efforts to restore debt sustainability, Semasinghe said. He added that the agreement with private bondholders was subject to the approval by the official creditor committee of nations, including India. "This marks another key milestone in our journey towards economic revival and strengthening," he said. Officials said the expected haircut agreed upon would amount to 28 per cent

Debt restructuring deal aids Sri Lanka's economic revival: Wickremesinghe

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 ..

Agreement with IMF for fresh loan expected next month: Pak Finance Minister

Pakistan's finance minister Mohammad Aurangzeb on Thursday said an agreement to secure a fresh loan to address the country's economic woes is expected to be reached with the International Monetary Fund next month. Aurangzeb, while addressing a post-budget press conference here, a day after unveiling the Rs 18,877 billion budget, announced that negotiations with the IMF were underway and going in the right direction. I don't want to say anything in finality other than the fact that it's (IMF talks) moving positively, he said and expressed hope that a staff-level agreement (SLA) is expected in July too. He, however, declined to talk further on the topic of SLA. The budget, which many believe is designed to meet IMF requirements for securing another USD 6 billion to USD 8 billion loans under the medium-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF), marks a 25 per cent increase over the outgoing fiscal year's outlay. The government has proposed historically-high additional taxes through various .

Pak to seek rollover of $12 bn debt to meet target before IMF team arrives

Pakistan has decided to seek a rollover of around USD 12 billion debt from key allies like China in the 2024-25 fiscal year to meet a whopping USD 23 billion worth of gap in its external financing as the federal government aims to achieve budget targets before the expected arrival of an IMF team to the cash-strapped country. According to the Finance Ministry insiders, USD 5 billion from Saudi Arabia, USD 3 billion from the UAE and USD 4 billion from China will be rolled over, adding that the estimate of further new financing from China would also be included in the next financial year's budget, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Pakistan will receive more than USD 1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the fresh loan programme, whereas new financing from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank has also been included in the estimated budget. According to the Finance Ministry sources, new loan programme agreements will be made with financial institutions. Th

'Xenophobia' stalling economic growth in China, Japan and India, says Biden

The IMF forecast last month that each country would see its growth decelerate in 2024 from the year prior, ranging from 0.9 per cent in highly developed Japan to 6.8 per cent in emerging India

Pakistan eyes news IMF loan by early July: Finance Minister Aurangzeb

The country's current $3 billion arrangement with the fund -- which it secured last summer to avert a sovereign default -- runs out in late April

Sri Lanka govt, Oppn trade barbs over failure to reach bondholder agreement

Sri Lanka continues to engage all debt restructuring negotiations in good faith, within principles of equitable treatment among creditors with maximum transparency, the government has said as it faced criticism from the Opposition for maintaining secrecy over the debt restructuring process. The government on Tuesday announced that it failed to reach an agreement with its international bondholders for restructuring around USD 12 billion in debt. The main opposition's economy spokesman Harsha de Silva in a statement said they were disappointed with the lack of transparency in the debt restructuring process. .It is obvious that that government has failed to strike a deal favourable to the people of Sri Lanka, de Silva of Samagi Jana Balawegaya party added. It is clear that the participating bondholders do not want to move away from the original structure they proposed based on the performance of the Sri Lanka economy to be measured on their much higher alternative baseline as opposed

Who will be new finance minister to be the first challenge in Pakistan

Pakistan's political impasse may end with the formation of a coalition government but its economic worries may linger on primarily due to the dilemma of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party over the appointment of the finance minister of the cash-strapped country. In January, the cash-strapped country received over USD 700 million second tranche from the Washington-based global lender under the existing USD 3 billion SBA agreed towards June last year when Pakistan was slowly drifting towards default. Earlier this week, US-based Fitch Ratings one of three leading global rating agencies said in its report that a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal to succeed the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), expiring in March this year, was key to Pakistan's credit profile. Pakistan has not completed the last USD 6.5 billion IMF bailout package, and therefore, the first task of the new finance minister will be to sit with the Washington-based global lender to get the last loan tranche of USD