The new Government, ever eager to strip any credence from their predecessors, scrapped that development pipeline essentially, and oblivious to any real national growth drive, led with their ruinous tax cuts. Sri Lanka collected less revenue than virtually every other country, and has a staggeringly high cost of running an inefficient Government. And one wonders, why the simple math couldn’t be grasped, particularly when the fantasised local investor surge never materialised. Populist leaders often paint in broad brush strokes, and the disciplined execution required for crisis management often eludes them. Foreign debt will now be repaid under the aegis of the IMF as per the Government, which constitutes a form of default, unprecedented for the island nation since achieving independence in 1948.

Source: The Nation April 29, 2022 20:30 UTC