Sri Lanka declares bankruptcy

[abbow]

every single country has some sort of natural resources or even from its ppl but politicians will 4kup anything once d ppl allows them to do it ...

Precisely !!!!!

[sMASH]

Barbados only have tourism and a karst limestone geography, from what I know. And they Killing it.

[neilsingh100]

Tell me if this sound familiar...

[hover11]

Tell me if this sound familiar...

Which is why I asked what is the difference between them and us...

[zoom rader]

Trinidad under the red Government is a spitting image Sri Lanka

[rollingstock]

Under Ravana, Shri Lanka was very prosperous.Then he decided to kidnap people wife.See what happens?

[Dohplaydat]

Trinidad under the red Government is a spitting image Sri Lanka

This honestly could be us in 10 years time.

[pugboy]

let’s think positive,
jamaica was at rock bottom for decades and seem
to have stabilized
granted their govt might be less corrupt

[timelapse]

let’s think positive,
jamaica was at rock bottom for decades and seem
to have stabilized
granted their govt might be less corrupt

Jamaica isn't blinded by racism.
Thats the primary tool of the red party here.Divide and conquer and get their financiers rich.Take we money, blame kamla and buss out.Vamos Amigos Clarence, you will see another one of them follow suit just now.

[hover11]

let’s think positive,
jamaica was at rock bottom for decades and seem
to have stabilized
granted their govt might be less corrupt

Jamaica doesn't have an ever increasing deficit budget unlike us

[MaxPower]

allyuh keyboard warrior ass too happy if allyuh could only complain on a forum and do nothing about it otherwise.

stD,

U eh fed up complain about who complaining?

It’s a open forum so people have the right to either talk, act, or do both.

Stop the persistent whining over things you cannot change young man.

[bluefete]

China Hesitates on Bailing Out Sri Lanka, Pakistan as Debt Soars
President Xi Jinping is tweaking Belt and Road support


Bloomberg News
April 13, 2022, 6:20 AM GMT-4Updated on April 13, 2022, 10:02 PM GMT-4

Over the past few years, the U.S. has accused China of using “debt diplomacy” to make developing nations across the world more dependent on Beijing.

Yet the cases of Sri Lanka and Pakistan -- both friends of China facing dire financial situations as inflation soars -- show that President Xi Jinping’s government is becoming more reluctant to pull out the checkbook. China still hasn’t made good on a pledge to re-issue loans totaling $4 billion that Pakistan repaid in late March, and it hasn’t responded to Sri Lanka’s pleas for $2.5 billion in credit support.


While China has pledged to help both countries, the more cautious approach reflects both a refining of Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative as well as a hesitancy to be seen interfering in messy domestic political situations. Pakistan got a new prime minister on Monday after parliament booted out former cricket star Imran Khan, and Sri Lanka’s leader is facing pressure from protesters to step down.

“Beijing has for the past couple of years been rethinking its external lending because their banks realized they were carrying a lot of debt with countries whose prospects of paying back were quite limited,” said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University. “This came on top of a tightening economic situation at home which also required a lot of spending, so there was less appetite to just throw money around wantonly.”

China is currently facing its own economic troubles, with lockdowns to contain the country’s worst Covid outbreak since early 2020 shutting down the technology and financial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Premier Li Keqiang on Monday told local authorities they should “add a sense of urgency” when implementing policies as analysts warn the official growth target of a 5.5% is now in jeopardy.

China has become the world’s largest government creditor over the past decade, with its state-owned policy banks lending more to developing countries than the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank in some recent years. The opacity around the terms and scale of some of that lending has been criticized, especially as the pandemic exacerbates debt problems in poorer countries.

Sri Lanka was downgraded deeper into junk by Fitch Ratings, which said on Wednesday the nation’s decision to suspend payments on its foreign debt has kicked off a sovereign default process. S&P said Sri Lanka’s next interest payments are due on April 18 and the failure to cover them will likely result in default, as would an outright debt restructuring.

Sri Lanka’s top diplomat in Beijing this week said he was “very confident” that China will come through with credit support, including $1 billion for the country to repay existing Chinese loans due in July. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ambassador Palitha Kohona said the process often takes months and he didn’t see any delay.

SRI LANKA-CRISIS-UNREST-ECONOMY

“Given the current circumstances, there aren’t that many countries that can step out to the pitch and do something,” he said. “China is one of those countries that can do something very quickly.”

Still, China’s role in helping to resolve ongoing crises in South Asia may be limited despite its status as a major creditor. A Shanghai-based scholar who researches China’s overseas lending said new credit lines are harder to approve as authorities emphasize risk management at financial institutions including policy banks. The scholar asked not to be named due to rules for speaking with the media.

Xi highlighted the importance of a more cautious approach at a high-level Belt and Road symposium in November. “It is necessary to implement risk prevention and control systems,” Xi said. He called on participants to make “small but beautiful” projects a priority for foreign cooperation and “avoid dangerous and chaotic places.”

Earlier this month, Jin Liqun, president of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, encouraged Sri Lanka to turn to the IMF for help in a meeting with Kohona.

‘Unfairly Blamed’
The most “burdensome debt” in terms of maturity and rates is typically owed to international sovereign bonds, mostly private market participants, according to Meg Rithmire, an associate professor at Harvard Business School who specializes in comparative political development in Asia and China. Therefore many in China view Beijing as being “unfairly blamed” for the fiscal choices made by political leaders in other countries, she said.

“China is wary of its actions being misinterpreted or backfiring, and is, I think, waiting to see what efforts other actors, like the international financial institutions, can undertake before it jumps in to offer credit support,” Rithmire said.

China’s development banks are acting to preserve returns and it “would be difficult for them to easily accede to Sri Lanka’s requests for deferrals,” said Matthew Mingey, a senior analyst at Rhodium Group’s China Macro & Policy team who researches economic diplomacy.


“Credit conditions back in China aren’t making things any easier for them,” he added. “Ultimately, Sri Lanka needs the IMF.”

‘Sinking Ships’
Sri Lanka said Tuesday it would expedite talks with the IMF after it halted payments on foreign debt to preserve dollars for essential food and fuel imports. Pakistan’s new government also plans to work with the IMF to stabilize the economy, according to Miftah Ismail, a former finance minister and a senior ruling party leader.

China’s ability to assist either country with a balance-of-payments crisis is limited, particularly as Beijing’s financial assistance is almost always tied to specific projects, said Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, principle researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development in Sri Lanka. China’s policy of non-interference in internal affairs prevents it from offering the type of advice needed for countries to emerge out of a financial crisis, he added.

“Even the IMF appears to be moving very slowly -- if not abandoning -- the requests of both Pakistan and Sri Lanka for their assistance,” Sarvananthan said. “Which sane bilateral donor country or international financial institution would pour money into sinking ships in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... debt-soars

[bluefete]

And after that came this:

Sri Lanka looks to IMF for an immediate bail out


As Sri Lankan delegation heads to Washington, DC, to secure funds, street protests calling for Rajapaksa ouster continue.

Street protests calling for the ouster of the Rajapaksa family will make loan negotiations harder for Sri Lanka [File: Jonathan Wijayaratne/Bloomberg]


By Anusha OndaatjieBloomberg
Published On 15 Apr 2022
15 Apr 2022


A Sri Lankan delegation is headed to Washington next week, looking to secure up to $4 billion from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders to help the island nation pay for food and fuel imports and limit debt defaults.

The team led by newly appointed Finance Minister Ali Sabry hopes to start talks with the lender of last resort on April 18 and secure aid as early as a week after negotiations.


“We need immediate emergency funding to get Sri Lanka back on track,” Sabry said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, while pegging the funding need this year at between $3-$4 billion. “Our appeal to them is to release it as soon as possible.”

Sabry will be joined in the talks by central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe and Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana, both of whom have had stints with the IMF.


Still, political turmoil at home, with street protests by citizens calling for the ouster of Rajapaksa only make the job of convincing the IMF to lend money more difficult. The $81 billion economy faced $8.6 billion worth of debt obligations this year before it suspended payments on foreign loans to preserve cash to pay for essential food and fuel imports.

“With all their expertise we are looking at putting up a decent case for us, which will preserve the Sri Lankan economy,” Sabry said, affirming confidence in the team he will be leading. Governor Weerasinghe replaced Ajith Nivard Cabraal, one of the strongest proponents of ending reliance on the IMF, while Secretary Siriwardana took over from Sajith Attygalle, also known for resisting aid from the multilateral lender.

Even with officials more amenable to working with the IMF in place, it will be an uphill task for Sri Lanka to raise the kind of funds Sabry said the country needs to tide over a balance of payments crisis this year.

The last time IMF extended help to Sri Lanka in 2016, the loan was capped at $1.5 billion and the program was prematurely terminated after disbursing $1.3 billion. That was when the economy was growing at about 5% and tourism accounted for a similar percent of gross domestic product.

In the absence of revenue from tourism, Sri Lanka has in recent times turned to countries including China and India for support amid a weak foreign-reserves position. The nation is also in talks with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for support, Sabry said.

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi to seek further help for securing food and fuel imports for the island nation, a statement from the high commission said. New Delhi has already provided a $1 billion credit facility to buy food, medicines and other essential items as well as $500 million for fuel imports, since the crisis.

Sri Lanka faces elevated dollar debt payments in coming years

Citigroup Global Markets expects the IMF’s involvement to help negotiations with bond holders, as Sri Lanka looks to request them to take a haircut on payments owed to them. The government may ask investors to accept a loss of 50% on interest payments, and 20% on the principal, analysts Donato Guarino and Johanna Chua wrote in a note to clients.


“If you have been part of our prosperity and made money out of it, when we are not doing well, you need to take some sort of a haircut,” Sabry said. “That’s going to be a long, protracted discussion.”

The loan restructuring plan needs to be credible and one that will reduce the debt quantum to a sustainable level, said Sanjeewa Fernando, strategist at CT CLSA Securities in Colombo. He also underlined the need for fiscal reforms with a formal time line.

The authorities are also seeking to cut expenditure, including freezing hiring at government departments.

“Given that we have started discussions with the IMF, strengthening our fiscal space is key,” Siriwardana said, adding that the government will also be looking at ways to increase state revenue.


Ahead of the talks, Sri Lanka has raised interest rates, devalued the local currency and placed curbs on non-essential imports. Its Prime Minister also called on citizens to be patient as prices surge and shortages of food to fuel to medicines worsen.

The IMF has said it is “monitoring the political and economic developments very closely,” and is “very concerned” about the hardships suffered by the people, especially the poor and vulnerable.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/ ... a-bail-out

[VexXx Dogg]

let’s think positive,
jamaica was at rock bottom for decades and seem
to have stabilized
granted their govt might be less corrupt

They had to drink the bitter IMF juice, and it was not pleasant.
Help with their rebound tho.

[zoom rader]

All these former colonies was left abandoned when most of their resources was already used up or stolen by the British.

The British just left and never helped to to give back to what was owed. China steps in to help for political persuasion on UN matters and is viewed as the bad guys here.

[zoom rader]

let’s think positive,
jamaica was at rock bottom for decades and seem
to have stabilized
granted their govt might be less corrupt

They had to drink the bitter IMF juice, and it was not pleasant.
Help with their rebound tho.

Jamaica , Guyana and Barbados all owed Trinidad money that Eric Williams and the red government gave them.

None of them ever paid back and the money owed was written off.

Barbados Aiport was the only one the red government ever built

Carricon

[pugboy]

that is the sad truth of them uk royals
unlike france who still held on and support their small colonies

All these former colonies was left abandoned when most of their resources was already used up or stolen by the British.

The British just left and never helped to to give back to what was owed. China steps in to help for political persuasion on UN matters and is viewed as the bad guys here.

[zoom rader]

that is the sad truth of them uk royals
unlike france who still held on and support their small colonies

All these former colonies was left abandoned when most of their resources was already used up or stolen by the British.

The British just left and never helped to to give back to what was owed. China steps in to help for political persuasion on UN matters and is viewed as the bad guys here.

Look at the treatment of the Carribean, the Brits will only help to build jails.

China steps in and Europe is blue vex.

[Dizzy28]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

[zoom rader]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

They have not colonised any nation as yet.
They just buying votes on their UN matters and controlling world trade.

Look at the USA ,China has their bonds. China owns more of USA than any other nation

[bluefete]

that is the sad truth of them uk royals
unlike france who still held on and support their small colonies

All these former colonies was left abandoned when most of their resources was already used up or stolen by the British.

The British just left and never helped to to give back to what was owed. China steps in to help for political persuasion on UN matters and is viewed as the bad guys here.

Sorry bro, France is de wuss.

1. When Haiti took its independence in 1815, France hit them with reparation monies that were not repaid until the late 20th century. $21 billion worth.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2 ... bab06d312b

2. Guadeloupe and Martinique want to become independent from France.

Amid riots, France to consider some autonomy for Guadeloupe
France’s government is offering to discuss greater autonomy for the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe
Via AP news wire
Saturday 27 November 2021 13:29

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 65277.html

France’s Discussion of Autonomy for Guadeloupe and Martinique Is an Imperialist Maneuver
The French government says it’s ready to talk about autonomy for Guadeloupe and Martinique, its Caribbean territories. That’s all about trying to calm the crisis in the West Indies and, at the same time, divide the movement.
Philippe Alcoy
December 4, 2021

https://www.leftvoice.org/frances-discu ... -maneuver/

I love this answer from Quora though in response to the independence movement in French territories.

Stephen Karam
Answered Jul 5, 2021

I hope not. They just need to look around the Caribbean and see what has happened to those so called “independent” Caribbean states.

Lack of proper infrastructure. Devalued currencies. Loss of opportunities. Increased taxes and cost of living directly related to the greedy corruption of elected officials, not to mention rigged elections, rigged Judiciary, then there are nefarious characters as far away as Canada, sailing in on sailboats with suitcases of money to corrupt your officials to pass laws that directly impact your sovereignty and independence, forever.

Not to mention China will infest your country, buy up your lands, property, and eventually own your ports of entry.

To be an “independent” country in today's world is to put yourself at risk and in peril at the mercy of wolves bent on their own selfish, greedy, uncontrolled impulses.

You certainly don’t want to elect someone who has ridden a bicycle all his life, who is not accustomed to money, and who will be susceptible to temptation once he tastes power, money, and greed.

He will see everyone as a threat, and they will pass laws to protect their scavenging of the economy, and your personal happiness thru all sorts of rules, regulations, taxes, fines, restrictions, etc.

You will be enslaved as 21st century indentured servants to the system of your own creation, as they lie to you about being “free at last…free at last…” (Free at last to plunder, steal, and destroy your future forever!) You’re much better off with the Devil you know, than the Demons that once lived in swine, that you don’t!

https://www.quora.com/Do-Martiniquans-o ... rom-France

[VexXx Dogg]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

Yessir! Yuan is the future, and when Xinnie the Pooh say jump, the world hadda has how high

[bluefete]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

Yessir! Yuan is the future, and when Xinnie the Pooh say jump, the world hadda has how high

Russia and China looking to link up in that direction.

[VexXx Dogg]

China still has deep ties to the west that allows their prosperity.
It's a delicate dance for them too.

[RedVEVO]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

They have not colonised any nation as yet.
They just buying votes on their UN matters and controlling world trade.

Look at the USA ,China has their bonds. China owns more of USA than any other nation

Zoom on point

Chinese invest . They develop . There is transfer of technology .

Why would the Chinese want to colonize black people in this day and age ?

[hover11]

Chinese loans is just colonialism by another name.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

They have not colonised any nation as yet.
They just buying votes on their UN matters and controlling world trade.

Look at the USA ,China has their bonds. China owns more of USA than any other nation

US debt to China is in the trillions. I don't think they will ever be able to pay that off

[pugboy]

you can still access free health care in many french colonies and i personally ppl who were taken to paris and put up in an apt for a couple months after surgery there

try getting that elesewhere

[pugboy]

they won’t as long as most of the rest of world uses and creates us dollar demand
they simply print more paper to prop up

US debt to China is in the trillions. I don't think they will ever be able to pay that off

[bluefete]

you can still access free health care in many french colonies and i personally ppl who were taken to paris and put up in an apt for a couple months after surgery there

try getting that elesewhere

My aunt went to Guadeloupe for surgery. Top class treatment.

[RedVEVO]

Barbados only have tourism and a karst limestone geography, from what I know. And they Killing it.

Barbados killing what it ?

Barbados is falling apart economically and similar to Trinidad's boat ride society .

The only difference is they have no Tuner .

And they keep their man she-emotions to themselves .