DNA Exclusive: What Caused Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis?

Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis – there is no diesel left in the country, the government has no money to buy petrol, tea is being sold at Rs 100 a cup and people are on the streets protesting against their government.

In today’s DNA, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Choudhary analyzes the factors that led to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka got its independence in the year 1948. The country witnessed a massive civil war between the Tamil and Sinhala communities between 1983 and 2009. However, the economic situation in Sri Lanka improved in the post-civil war era. In the year 2019, the situation reached a level where the World Bank declared Sri Lanka as an “upper middle income” nation. Sri Lanka’s per capita income reached Rs 2.90 per annum this year, while India’s per capita income stood at Rs 1.57 lakh per annum.

Then what is the reason for this sudden economic crisis?

There are three main reasons for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis:

1) Dependence on debt for development: The biggest mistake the Sri Lankan government made in the last few years was to borrow huge amounts of international borrowing to meet its development needs. In 2016, Sri Lanka had a debt of $46 billion (Rs 3.45 lakh crore). However, in six years, the same amount has more than doubled – to Rs 6 lakh crore – which is almost equal to the size of its entire economy.

2) Not spending the loan in the right direction: The second mistake is not spending the loan money wisely. Sri Lanka did not spend money on its manufacturing sectors which could have increased the income of the people. The economy of Sri Lanka is dependent on three sectors – tourism, tea and textiles. However, these three areas were badly affected during the pandemic.

3) Dependence on imports: Sri Lanka never tried to become self-reliant. The country also exports small daily products. There are hardly any indigenous products available in Sri Lanka which makes the economy dependent on imports.

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