“Several countries including Japan, Singapore, and the United States have debt levels far exceeding their GDP. It can be shown through alternative indicators that even foreign debt is more manageable than doomsayers indicate. The ratio of Government’s foreign non-concessional debt to GDP is around 23 per cent, and the remainder is either domestic debt that can be rolled over or long term concessional financing. The annual foreign debt service payments as a percentage of export earnings and remittances stand at around 12 per cent in ‘business-as-usual’ years such as 2018. In my view, Sri Lanka is introducing ground-breaking reforms to improve the domestic production economy, enhance exports and reduce foreign debt dependence.

Source: The Nation December 01, 2020 14:26 UTC