ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජා.මූ.අ. ( IMF) ට යෑමෙන් පසු – වාද මාතෘකා Sri Lanka: Post- IMF Issues இலங்கை: IMFற்கு பின்னரான சிக்கல்கள்
මෙය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල ( IMF)ට යෑමෙන් පසු උදාවන වාද මාතෘකා පිළිබඳ විචාරාත්මක දෘෂ්ටියකින් කෙරෙමින් පවතින සාකච්ඡා සරු කිරීම අරමුණු කරන සම්පත් පිටුවකි. මෙහි නියෝජනය කෙරෙන සියළු රචකයන්/ ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නන් දරා සිටින සියළු මත ‘කතිකා’ විසින් අවශ්‍යයෙන්ම අනුමත කෙරෙන්නේ නැත.
This is a resource page intended to help enrich the on going discussions on Post-IMF issues in Sri Lanka from a critical perspective. ‘Kathika’ does not necessarily endorse all the views held by all authors/ presenters represented here.
இது இலங்கையில் IMFற்கு பின்னரான சிக்கல்கள் தொடர்பான விவாதங்களை விமர்சனக் கண்ணோட்டத்தில் மேம்படுத்தும் நோக்கில் ஒரு ஆதாரப் பக்கமாகும். இங்கே குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ள அனைத்து எழுத்தாளர்கள்/ வழங்குநர்களின் அனைத்துக் கருத்துக்களையும் ‘கத்திகா’ அங்கீகரிப்பதில்லை.
කරුණාකර, ඔබේ අදහස්, යෝජනා එවන්න, kathika@gmail.com වෙත.
Please, send your comments, suggestions to kathika@gmail.com
உங்கள் கருத்துக்கள், பரிந்துரைகளை kathika@gmail.com என்ற முகவரிக்கு அனுப்புங்கள்.
What’s Happening in Sri Lanka?
IMF ගිහින් ආජන්ටීනාවට වුණ දේ වෙන්න ද යන්නේ? – මහාචාර්ය සුමනසිරි ලියනගේ මහතා සමඟ කළ සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාව
IMF ගිහින් ආජන්ටීනාවට වුණ දේ වෙන්න ද යන්නේ?
Sri Lanka’s Economic Depression and the IMF
Panelists: Prof. Farzana Haniffa, Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar
Sri Lanka’s Economic Depression and the IMF
The public are facing tremendous suffering from the economic depression currently underway. We hope to initiate a discussion centred on questions such as: How long the depression is likely to last, and what social and political consequences can we anticipate? What are the possible consequences of the economic policies already underway and of structural adjustment led by the IMF? How can we as academics engage, debate and put forward analyses and alternatives in this time of great crisis?
Below, is the link to the youtube video,
Sri Lanka’s Economic Depression and the IMF
இலங்கையின் சமகால அரசியல் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடிகள்!
உரையாளர்: கலாநிதி அகிலன் கதிர்காமர்
கீழே உள்ள லிங்கை கிளிக் செய்து வீடியோவை பார்க்கவும்
இலங்கையின் சமகால அரசியல் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடிகள்!
Sri Lanka stares at bankruptcy or redemption
by Ahilan Kadirgamar
The most stringent of those conditions to come are also mentioned in the IMF Report, which calls for “growth-enhancing structural reforms, including increasing female labour force participation, reducing youth unemployment, liberalising trade, developing a wide-reaching and coherent investment promotion strategy, and reforming price controls and state-owned enterprises”. Forcing women into the workforce, further liberalising trade, removing price controls and privatising state-owned enterprises where public services become unaffordable, are going to stifle households and tear apart the social fabric.
To read the article click on the link below:
Sri Lanka stares at bankruptcy or redemption
Or,
Read/ download the PDF file below:
ශ්‍රී ලංකාව බංකොලොත් බව හෝ ගැළවීම අබියස
අහිලන් කදිර්ගාමර්
ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල (ජා.මූ.අ.) සමග ගිවිසුම සහ එහි විපාක ප්‍රභූන් සහ වැඩකරන ජනයා අතර ගැටුමේ නාභියයි.
“….ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රභූන්ට අවශ්‍ය වූයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිංගප්පූරුවක් කිරීමට වුවද අද වන විට ජනයාගේ එදා වේල සපයා ගැනීමට රට සිඟමන් යදින තත්වයකට පත්ව තිබේ. මෙය පාලක ස්ථාපිතය සසල කරන ජාතික නින්දාවකි. එසේ තිබියදී, අසීමිත ආනයන සහ තව තවත් අතමාරු කරගෙන ණය දික් කර ගැනීමේ විනාශකාරී මග ගැනීමෙන් කිසි පාඩමක් ඉගෙන නොගත් බව හඟවමින්, රට එම වට්ටෝරුගත ප්‍රතිකර්මයන්ම නැවත වරක් තෝරා ගනිමින් තිබේ. සැබැවින්ම ණය පැහැර හැරීමට සහ ආණ්ඩුවේ දැන් ප්‍රධාන ප්‍රතිචාරය වී ඇති ජා.මූ.අ. ගිවිසුමක් තුළින් ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීම ට තල්ලු කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් කොළඹ ඉහළ පෙළේ ආර්ථික බක්කන් තමන් ගැනම තරමක් සතුටු වූ බව පෙනේ. පාලන තන්ත්‍රය පලවා හැරීමේ විරෝධතාවලින් පිරුණ සුවිශාල කැළඹීම මධ්‍යයෙහි, රජයට එරෙහි ප්‍රභූන්, උපරිම වශයෙන් ඩොලර් බිලියන කිහිපයක් කෙටි කලකදී ගෙන ආ හැකි ජා.මූ.අ. පැකේජයකින් ඔබ්බට බරපතළ ආර්ථික විකල්පයක් නොමැතිව, මූලික වශයෙන් කල්පනා කරමින් සිටින්නේ ව්‍යවස්ථාමය සහ නෛතික විසඳුම් පිළිබඳව ය….”
ලිපිය කියවන්න, පහත සබැඳියාවෙන්,
ශ්‍රී ලංකාව බංකොලොත් බව හෝ ගැළවීම අබියස
Why should the super rich taxed more | Why wealth tax and inheritance tax |
The rich are getting richer day by day and the rest are reeling under pressure. Capitalist system has revealed its true colours. It’s high time the super rich are taxed more. Dr Prabhat Patnaik explains why.
Watch the video on youtube by clicking on the link below,
Why should the super rich taxed more | Why wealth tax and inheritance tax |
Conversation with Professor Yanis Varoufakis, Part I
202 views • 26-Apr-2022 • Dr Chamindra Weerawardhana in conversation with Professor Yanis Varoufakis, on the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Yanis discusses aspects of the debt trap, his experience with creditors as the Finance Minister of the Hellenic Republic, challenges involving the ‘IMF route’ and more.
Watch the video on youtube by clicking on the link below,
Conversation with Professor Yanis Varoufakis
Can Sri Lanka’s political reckoning become an intellectual reckoning?
by Devaka Gunawardena
Earlier, this argument could be made in polite conversation without raising eyebrows. But the discussion is increasingly awkward and circumspect. Many within the wider social group of academics and intellectuals sympathise with the demands of the movement to oust the Rajapaksas. We now see what happens when an “efficient technocrat” comes into power, despite the credulous enthusiasm with which the Advocata Institute, for example, initially greeted Gotabaya upon his election. In its press release on 30 November 2019, it wished his Government the best in its efforts to “establish meritocracy, improve government efficiency and promote prosperity.” If such actors have not already been discredited, we must ask what kind of understanding of politics they have if, even in a perfunctory way, they assumed that Gotabaya could be a straightforward vehicle for their program.
To read the article, click on the link below,
Can Sri Lanka’s political reckoning become an intellectual reckoning?
Why the IMF is bad for Sri Lanka, in 7 points
by Indi Samarajiva
If you don’t believe me, I invite you to take these seven points and go down to the protests, and present them to people on the road. Tell them you want to raise prices, devalue the currency, fire people, and cut public subsidies. Then try not to get chased down that road. That’s really what we should do to the IMF. Chase them out of the country, out of history, all the way down the revolutionary road.
To read the article, click on the link below,
Why the IMF is bad for Sri Lanka, in 7 points
Three major failures of Sri Lanka’s economic policies since independence and medium, short and longer term possibilities in terms of the economy
Ahilan Kadirgamar
To listen to the video click on the link below,
Sri Lanka: No agreement with the IMF!
Eric Toussaint interviewed by Sushovan Dhar
However, IMF and World Bank loans have always been surrounded by serious controversy. Critics believe that the World Bank and IMF have systematically lent to states to influence their policies. External debt has been and continues to be used as an instrument to subordinate borrowers. Since their creation, the IMF and the World Bank have violated international human rights covenants and have not hesitated to support dictatorships.
………
Sushovan Dhar: What do you think of the position taken by around a dozen Sri Lankan economists who claim to be independent ?
Eric Toussaint : This group of around a dozen economists who call themselves independent have published an op-ed in the Sri Lankan press explaining their vision of what should be done and all the points that are indicated correspond exactly to the type of policies demanded by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. One can take their proposals point by point, analyze the agreements made with the various countries, including Sri Lanka, with the IMF and observe that the measures proposed by these so-called independent economists are precisely in line with the nefarious policies that the International Monetary Fund wants.
What these economists propose is also perfectly in line with the interests of the big private creditors, moreover, they suggest calling upon private firms specialized in debt restructuring. These private firms work on behalf of large private creditors and are not at all in the interest of the people who live in the countries forced to pay illegitimate debts. Thus, these private firms offer no safeguards in defending the interests of the people of Sri Lanka.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Sri Lanka: No agreement with the IMF!
Sri Lanka: What is the crisis and where are we heading?
•The 2nd program in the series of interviews conducted by the Law & Society Trust on the economic crisis which has evolved into a political crisis in Sri Lanka. Senior Researcher at the Law & Society Trust, Vidura Munasinghe speaks with Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar, Senior Lecturer at University of Jaffna.
Sri Lanka: the masses must organise and trust their own strength!
by Ben Curry
There are a number of parallels between the present situation in Sri Lanka and the situation that developed in Argentina in 2001. At that time, Argentina was facing bankruptcy, and was forced to turn repeatedly to the IMF. In order to pay back its debts, the IMF demanded the Argentinian government apply brutal zero-deficit austerity budgets – i.e. that they make the workers and poor pay for the crisis.
This eventually led to a situation in which the masses could take no more, and their anger exploded in massive protests.
Much like Sri Lanka today, the movement made Argentina ungovernable. The country even went through five presidents in the course of two weeks! Ultimately, however, the masses became exhausted and returned home.
What happened next? The government defaulted on its unpayable debt, the currency was massively devalued, and unemployment and inflation continued to worsen. In fact, these were the only two options facing Argentina on the basis of capitalism: either pay the debts and conduct massive austerity attacks; or default and allow inflation and unemployment to rip through society. Either way, the working class would be made to pay for the crisis of capitalism.
And today, Argentina is back in the same situation! The Argentinian government has once again returned to the IMF for help, having been battered by the exact same, worldwide crisis of capitalism that is gripping Sri Lanka. The IMF has been willing to oblige… in exchange for promises to carry out further austerity attacks on the working class.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Sri Lanka: the masses must organise and trust their own strength!
IMF යෑමෙන් වැඩක් වේද?
‘ඇත්ත’ කතුවැකිය
ශ්‍රී ලංකාව IMF හි (ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ) සාමාජිකයෙකු බව සැබෑය. දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධයෙන් පසු 1945දී ‘බ්‍රෙටන්වුඩ්’ සමුළුවේදී මෙම ආයතනයත් ලෝක බැංකුවත් පිහිටවනු ලැබුවේ ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය ක්‍රමය හසුරුවාලීමේ අරමුණින් සහ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය මූල්‍ය සම්පත් සැපයීමටය. ‘මාර්ෂල් සැලැස්ම’ වශයෙන් ආධාර ව්‍යාපෘතියක්ද සකස් කරනු ලැබුවේ යුද්ධයෙන් විනාශ වූ බටහිර යුරෝපය පුනරුත්ථාපනය කරලීමටය. ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම, එම ආයතනවල අරමුණු සහ කාර්යභාරය වූයේ ධනවාදී අර්ථික ක්‍රමය සුරැකීම සහ ශක්තිමත් කිරීමය. මුදල් ප්‍රාග්ධනය සැපයූවේ ඇමරිකාවයි. එම නිසාම ඇමරිකාවේ කැමැත්ත සියලූ තීරණවලට අනිවාර්යයෙන් අවශ්‍ය විය.
IMF එක යොදා ගත්තේ දියුණු වෙමින් පවතින රටවලට බර පටවා ප්‍රාග්ධනය සහ වෙළෙඳපොළ ධනවාදී රාජ්‍යයන් සවිමත් කරලීමටය. වෙනත් වචනවලින් කියතොත් අධිරාජ්‍යවාදය ශක්තිමත් කරලීමටය.
ඉතිරිය සඳහා බලන්න,
Tissa Vitarana opposes going to IMF at All Party confab
I strongly disagree with the view that both the Government and the Leader of the Opposition hold that the solution lies only through the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The IMF solution will only lead to a further loss of dollars through the unrestricted opening of the economy to more imports and also lead to increased debt due to taking further loans.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Tissa Vitarana opposes going to IMF at All Party confab
Interim government to meet crises needs correct policies
by Prof. Tissa Vitarana
The alternative that is proposed by the SLPP Government, UNP and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) of turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will only aggravate the problem. This is because the neoliberal policies that those parties favor were the main cause of the massive defeat of the Yahalapanaya Government. The IMF insists on the door being opened for the import of any goods and article from abroad, whether they be cheaper or more expensive than what we can produce. It was the massive importation of luxury and non-essential goods over a long period of time by several Governments, most of all the Yahapalanaya Government, that led to our Foreign Reserves dropping from the usual safe level of 7 to 8 billion US dollars to the present level of less than one billion US dollars that has aggravated the crisis to this massive level. The loss of our ability to purchase essential items like oil, gas, milk powder and flour will be overcome as soon as we turn to the Moratorium policy of settlement of loans for five years as mentioned above. Once the people’s needs are provided and the crisis overcome in this way there will be no need to tie up with the IMF. The latter course would mean that we have to get more loans and get further into debt. The problem of debt and interest repayment will continue to plague us. The correct policy of developing a national economy where we become self-supporting with regard to food and also develop value added industries (both small, medium and large) that was decided on by the SLPP Government, but not implemented, could also be done. Therefore it is essential that those in the Interim Government should not insist on the tie-up with the IMF and the resultant commitment to implement their policies.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Interim government to meet crises needs correct policies
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික කඩා වැටීම හේතුවෙන් ව්‍යාප්ත වෙමින් පවතින මානුෂීය අර්බුදය විසඳීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ස්ත්‍රීවාදීන් විසින් කරනු ලබන හදිසි ඉල්ලීම
රජය විසින් මෙතෙක් ලබා දී ඇති ප්‍රතිචාර ණය තත්ත්වය විසඳීම සඳහා ණය ලබා ගැනීමට සහ ආධාර සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල (IMF) වෙත යොමු වීමට සීමා වී ඇත. IMF වැනි ක්‍රියාකාරීන් සහ අනෙකුත් අය විසින් සකසුරුවම් ප්‍රතිපත්ති මගින් රාජ්‍ය මූල්‍ය ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීම බලාත්මක කළ හැකි බව පිළිබඳ අප සැලකිලිමත් වන්නෙමු. ණය තිරසාර කිරීමට මෙය ශක්‍ය උපාය මාර්ගයක් ලෙස ඔවුන් බොහෝ විට උපකල්පනය කර ඇත. කෙසේ වුවද, වැට් බද්ද හරහා සෘජු බදු වැඩි කිරීම වැනි ප්‍රතිගාමී බදු ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ රාජ්‍ය වියදම් කපා හැරීම මගින් සමාජ යටිතල පහසුකම් ඇතුළුව අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ඵලදායිතා වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම් සහ සියල්ලන් ඇතුළත් කර ගන්නා ආර්ථික වර්ධනය සඳහා ඇති හැකියාවන් අඩපණ කිරීම පමණක් සිදු කරනු ඇත. මානව ඵලදායිතාව සහ යහපැවැත්ම වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම සඳහා සෞඛ්‍ය, අධ්‍යාපනය සහ සත්කාර සේවා සඳහා ආයෝජනය කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ. මෙම ආර්ථික අර්බුදයේ විශ්ලේෂණ නවලිබරල් ආර්ථික විද්‍යාඥයින් සහ ප්‍රධාන ධාරාවේ සාර්ව ආර්ථික කතිකාවන් මගින් පාලනය කෙරේ. මේවා විසින් බොහෝ දුරට අර්බුදය අමානුෂික කර ඇති අතර එමඟින් කාන්තාවන්ගේ, වැඩ කරන ජනතාවගේ සහ ආන්තික ප්‍රජාවන්ගේ දැවෙන උත්සුකයන්ට විසඳුම් ලබා නොදේ.
රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසායන්හි පවතින දූෂණය සහ ප්‍රගතිශීලී බදු ප්‍රතිපත්ති හඳුන්වාදීමට අපොහොසත් වීම වැනි අර්බුදයට බලපාන දිගුකාලීන හේතු පිළිබඳව අපි බරපතල ලෙස සැලකිලිමත් වන්නෙමු. මේවාට විසඳුම් ලබා දී නොමැති අතර, නැවතත් ආර්ථික බර ජනතාව මත පැටවෙන රාජ්‍ය සේවා පෞද්ගලීකරණය කිරීමේ උත්සාහයන් ඇතැයි අපි අනුමාන කරමු.
ප්‍රකාශය බාගත කරන්න, පහත සම්බන්ධය මගින්,
Federation of University Teachers’ Association speaks up on current crisis
We are in a dire state of bankruptcy and our defaulting on the payment of foreign debt demonstrates it unequivocally. The past sins of successive administrations have led us to this moment where IMF intervention seems inevitable even though regrettable. While an IMF deal is imminent, currently there is insufficient discussion, however, on the conditions that may accompany IMF engagement and how such engagement will impact people’s lives in both the immediate and the long term. IMF negotiations are generally predicated on “austerity” measures that constitute cuts to spending on social welfare. The safeguarding of public goods and public entities, like education, healthcare provision, and essential utilities is imperative.
Though austerity measures and years of hardship are touted as inevitable, further disenfranchisement of a suffering people, hit by skyrocketing prices and shortages, must be resisted. There is inadequate alternative economic thinking informing current economic policymaking in Sri Lanka. We should not become complaisant with the neoliberal consensus – that we can go back to business as usual with the IMF deal. We must ensure that economic planning for the future will refrain from repeating the mistakes of the past that have led us to this crisis.
Click on the link below to read the statement,
Federation of University Teachers’ Association speaks up on current crisis
The Sri Lankan Crisis Explained
Ahilan Kadirgamar
The IMF Can’t Save Sri Lanka – Devaka Gunawardena
Among elite policy makers and experts, there is an unshakeable belief that going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will provide a pathway for Sri Lanka out of crisis. The IMF, however, applies its policy in a fragile global economy: one entirely different from the dawn of the neoliberal era when global trade was expanding. Any potential agreement with Sri Lanka would lack the same proposition of trading reforms for growth.
The IMF previously deployed this narrative to convince local comprador elites that they could manage the resulting social disruption caused by drastic cuts to services. Around the world, however, people are pointing out the contradiction between the shift in the IMF’s rhetoric in response to global economic crisis, and the pain caused by its habitual emphasis on “fiscal consolidation”.
For countries that experienced shock therapy during the 1980s, at the very least, they could look forward to profits embedded within global supply chains. IMF policy devalued labour compared to capital. Workers experienced wage repression. Businesses produced goods for export. But the expansion of markets driven by debt in the West could create the necessary demand for products.
Now, however, in addition to the fact that only those few countries with a semblance of industrial policy, such as China, vacuumed up most of the benefits, the scope for global growth is dramatically narrowing. An IMF programme today may shore up macroeconomic stability temporarily, albeit at great social cost. But it cannot guarantee Sri Lanka’s participation in a rapidly expanding global economy.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Economic collapse and the post-IMF crisis
Sri Lanka is quickly becoming a poster child for the sovereign debt crisis, much like countries before it such as Lebanon, Greece, and Argentina. While the consequences may appear similar, it is critical to understand the specific characteristics of the unfolding crisis in Sri Lanka. For many, the solution was always the same: go to the IMF. Meanwhile, the Government wasted precious time by failing to actively prioritise imports and rebalance the economy toward domestic production. Because many within the opposition were convinced that the IMF was the answer, they too failed to pressure the Government to change its economic policies to address the crisis.
As a result, an IMF agreement has apparently become inevitable, while the Government has become delegitimised because of the economic collapse. But the social costs are and will continue to be abysmal. Sri Lanka’s bargaining position has eroded significantly over the last two years. Its leverage for negotiating a bailout with external actors, including the IMF, is practically non-existent. Meanwhile, the current economic crisis is being analysed with extremely flawed assumptions.
To read the article click on the link below,
Economic collapse and the post-IMF crisis
#SriLankaEconomicCrisis: பெண்ணியல்வாதிகளின் அவசர வேண்டுகோள்
நெருக்கடி நிலையைச் சமாளிப்பதற்கான அரசாங்கத்தின் இதுவரையான தீர்வுகள் மேலும் கடன்களைப் பெறுவது, சர்வதேச நாணய நிதியத்திடம் (IMF) உதவி கோருவது என மட்டுப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. IMF மற்றும் பிற நிறுவனங்கள் கடுமையான சிக்கனக் கொள்கைகள் மூலம் நிதி ஒருங்கிணைப்பை செயற்படுத்தக்கூடும் என்பது வருத்தமளிக்கிறது. பொதுவாக, கடனைக் கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் கொண்டு வருவதற்கு சிக்கனக் கொள்கையையே தந்திரோபாயமாக கொண்டுள்ளனர். இருப்பினும், நேரடி வரி அதிகரிப்பு போன்ற பிற்போக்கான வரிக் கொள்கைகள் மற்றும் பொதுச் செலவினை குறைப்பது போன்றன உற்பத்தித்திறன் மேம்பாடுகளை பாதிப்பதுடன், சமூக உட்கட்டமைப்பு உள்ளிட்ட பங்கேற்பு பொருளாதார வளர்ச்சிக்கான நிலையை மேலும் நிலைகுலையச் செய்யும்.
மனித உற்பத்தித்திறன் மற்றும் நல்வாழ்வை மேம்படுத்துவதற்கு சுகாதாரம், கல்வி மற்றும் பராமரிப்பு சேவைகளில் போதிய முதலீடு செய்தல் அத்தியாவசியம். இந்த பொருளாதார நெருக்கடி பற்றிய பகுப்பாய்வுகள், நவதாராளவாத பொருளாதார வல்லுநர்களதும், பேரியப் பொருளாதார விவரிப்புகளாலும் ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்தப்பட்டவையாக உள்ளன. இதனூடாக பெண்கள், உழைக்கும் மக்கள் மற்றும் விளிம்புநிலைக்குள்ளாக்கப்பட்ட நிலையில் வாழும் சமூகங்களின் மனிதம் அழிக்கப்பட்டு, அவர்களின் அழுத்தமான துன்பங்களை உள்வாங்காத தீர்வுகளே முன்வைக்கப்படுகின்றன. இவை, பொருளாதார வீழ்ச்சியின் மனிதாபிமானமற்ற தன்மையை கவனியாதிருக்கிறது. நெருக்கடிக்கான நீண்டகால காரணங்களான அரச நிறுவனங்களில் இடம்பெறும் ஊழல் மற்றும் முற்போக்கான வரிக் கொள்கைகளை அறிமுகப்படுத்தாமை என்பன கவனிக்கப்படாமலும், தீர்வு காணப்படாமலும் இருக்கும் இந்நிலையில், அரச சேவைகளை தனியார்மயமாக்கும் முயற்சிகள் பொருளாதாரச் சுமையை மக்கள் மீது மேலும் அதிகமாக சுமத்திவிடும் என நாம் நம்புகிறோம்.
அறிக்கையைப் படிக்க கீழே உள்ள இணைப்பைக் கிளிக் செய்யவும்
#SriLankaEconomicCrisis: பெண்ணியல்வாதிகளின் அவசர வேண்டுகோள்!
Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: A Man-Made Disaster?
Rocked by its worst financial crisis in recent history, Sri Lanka is facing power cuts, food shortages, queues for fuel and unrest on the streets. A terror attack in 2019, multiple cycles of COVID-19 lockdowns and unilateral decisions taken by its rulers has pushed the country to the brink of bankruptcy. Forex reserves and foreign investment has dropped by 70 per cent, while debt has soared. What exactly is the situation on ground – and what’s the real reason behind a meltdown to this extent?
To view the video, click on the link below:
Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: A Man-Made Disaster?
ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය ගැන ආපසු සිතා බැලීම – අහිලන් කදිර්ගාමර්
ආචාර්ය අහිලන් කදිර්ගාමර් සමග හිමාල් සවුත් ඒෂියන් සඟරාව කළ Rethinking Sri Lannka’s Economic Crisis හිසින් පල වූ සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවේ සිංහල පරිවර්තනය.
නව ලිබරල්වාදය පිලිබද වන විශාල සාහිත්‍යය සමග බැරෑරුම් ලෙස අභිමුඛ වීමට අපගේ ශාස්ත්‍රඥයන් හා බුද්ධිමතුන් තවමත් කටයුතු කොට නොතිබීම අවාසනාවක්. එහෙත් මෙම අඩු උනන්දුව ඔවුන්ගේ පන්ති ස්වභාවය වෙතින් ගලා එන්නක් ලෙසයි මා දකින්නේ. විදේශ ආධාර මත යැපෙන පර්යේෂණ ව්‍යාපෘති හෝ බටහිර රටවල විශ්ව විද්‍යාල විසින් ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන නව සම්භාව්‍ය ආර්ථික විශ්ලේෂණය වෙත ඔවුන් දක්වන පක්ෂපාතීත්වය පන්තිමය කරුණක්. ගෝලීය දකුනේ වෙනත් රටවල්වලත් අඩු වැඩි වශයෙන් මෙම තත්වය දැකගත හැකි වූවත් මේ අදහස්වලට එරෙහි ප්‍රතිරෝධය දැක්වීම් මේ රටවල පවතිනවා. විශේෂයෙන්ම අර්බුද සමයන් හීදී විකල්ප විසදුම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් වූ විවාදයන් ඇති කිරීම කෙරෙහි මෙම ප්‍රතිරෝධය දැක්වීම් මග පාදනවා. නිදසුන් ලෙස ඉන්දියාව ගත් විට, නව දිල්ලිය කේන්ද්‍ර කොට ගත් ආර්ථික පර්යේෂණ පදනම විසින් කරනු ලබන ප්‍රකාශනයන් මවිසින් සමීපව පරිහරණය කරනවා. ලංකාව තුල මෙබදු ව්‍යායාමයක් අපි දකින්නේ නැත.
ඉතිරිය සඳහා බලන්න,
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය ගැන ආපසු සිතා බැලීම –
Rethinking Sri Lanka’s economic crisis
Interview with Ahilan Kadirgamar on Sri Lanka’s political economy in a time of great crisis.
In Sri Lanka over the last few decades, there is a dearth of political economy scholarship and Marxist analysis, and thus few have engaged with theorisation of neoliberalism. In fact, some of us back in 2012 organised a three-month-long weekly seminar with younger academics and activists, to understand developments in Sri Lanka, drawing on critiques of the neoliberal project. That helped create a debate on neoliberalism in Sri Lanka. One can appreciate the value of using the framework of neoliberalism for analysing our economic context only if we see local developments in the global context. Then it becomes evident how it is all part of a massive class project of finance capital with an ideology that reifies free markets and individual agents, aggressively pushes austerity and tacitly backs an authoritarian state as long as it serves the interest of capital.
It is unfortunate that our academics and intellectuals are yet to engage rigorously with the vast literature on neoliberalism, but I also see that as a consequence of their class character, and how they are beholden to Western interests, be it donor-funded research projects or neoclassical economic analysis perpetuated in the Western academy. While this is true to an extent in many other countries in the Global South, there is some resistance to these ideas, especially during crisis times, that leads to debate on alternatives. In India for example, I follow research published on MacroScan run by the Economic Research Foundation in New Delhi that provides an alternative to conservative and mainstream positions in economics. In Sri Lanka, that is largely absent.
I would say, since the late 1970s, successive governments in Sri Lanka have been following neoliberal policy packages, and that this trend accelerated after the end of the war in 2009. Furthermore, while there are some differences in how successive governments – or, for that matter, new finance ministers and Central Bank governors – may approach these policy packages, the thrust remains the same shaped by the neoliberal vision. The Rajapaksa regime, for instance, conceals its otherwise very market-friendly policies in rhetoric of welfarism and rural upliftment. However, when we look at their privileging of the financial sector and low investment in key public sectors, their neoliberal bias is hard to miss.
To read the article click on the link below,
Rethinking Sri Lanka’s economic crisis
Comprendre le soulèvement populaire au Sri Lanka
Depuis deux ans, le Sri Lanka connaît la plus grave crise économique depuis son indépendance en 1948. La multiplication des pénuries dans tous les domaines (aliments, carburants, médicaments, etc.), l’inflation galopante et les coupures d’électricité frappent très durement la population. Celle-ci se soulève massivement depuis plusieurs semaines, en dépit de l’imposition d’un couvre-feu et d’une coupure des réseaux sociaux, pour exiger la démission du gouvernement.
Dans cet entretien, originellement publié en anglais dans le journal en ligne Himal SouthAsian, l’économiste Ahilan Kadirgamar analyse les origines de cette crise historique qu’il relie aux politiques néolibérales menées de manière autoritaire dans le pays depuis la fin des années 1970 et l’intégration de celui-ci au capital financier global. Le pays est, selon lui, désormais parvenu à un véritable point de basculement, dont l’issue dépend de l’affrontement en cours entre les classes sociales et de la capacité des travailleurs·ses à imposer une redistribution des richesses.
Pour lire l’article cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous,
Comprendre le soulèvement populaire au Sri Lanka
Debt Restructuring and Structural Reforms: It’s Class, Stupid!
by Ahilan Kadirgamar
We are told there are no alternatives to painful structural reforms. However, there are in fact other counter paths. First, given the debt trap, support from external actors to boost foreign reserves is necessary, but that has to be combined with not just restructuring the debt, but also restructuring the import bill.
Sri Lanka earns US$ 1 billion a month in exports and it needs to bring the import bill down to US$ 600 million per month to have close to a total of US$ 5 billion per year to make the repayments on external debt. The import bill should be brought down and limited to the bare essential of medicines, food, oil and the intermediate goods necessary for exports. And that can only be done if a public distribution system by the state takes charge of imports. If debt can be restructured, then there will be more room to say increase imports to US$ 800 million per month, but ensuring imports are limited to essential goods will require a public distribution system in the medium term. Non-essential imports should only be considered after exports drastically rise.
Relief and social investment
Next, with the mounting economic crisis there is going to be increased poverty and social suffering, so visibly evident with increased begging on the streets. At the very moment when relief and state support is most needed, cuts to social welfare will be disastrous. Where will the Government find the funds for such relief? Indeed, having cut taxes for the wealthy over the decades, and most recently two years ago, Sri Lanka has abysmally low state revenues now of just 9% of GDP.
To read the article click on the link below,
Debt Restructuring and Structural Reforms: It’s Class, Stupid!
இலங்கையில் கடும் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடி: எப்போது தீரும்?
இலங்கையில் கடும் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடி ஏற்பட்டுள்ள பின்னணியில் அங்குள்ள தற்போதைய நிலை தொடர்பிலும் இதற்கான காரணம் தொடர்பிலும் விளக்கமளிக்கிறார் யாழ் பல்கலைக்கழக சிரேஷ்ட விரிவுரையாளர் கலாநிதி அகிலன் கதிர்காமர் அவர்கள். அவரோடு உரையாடுகிறார் றேனுகா துரைசிங்கம்.
போட்காஸ்ட் கேட்க கீழே உள்ள லிங்கை கிளிக் செய்யவும்,
இலங்கையில் கடும் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடி: எப்போது தீரும்?
‘ප්‍රගතිශීලී’-IMFවාදයේ පසුබිම
රමිඳු පෙරේරා
ඇයි අපි IMF විසඳුමක් නොවේ කියා කියන්නේ? ජා.මූ, අරමුදල විසින් පනවන කප්පාදු කොන්දේසි නිසා සමාජයේ පහල පාන්තික ජන කොටස් මත ඇති වෙන පීඩනය ඒ සඳහා බලපාන එක හේතුවකි. හැබැයි IMF හි ප්‍රශ්නය සමාජ සාධාරණත්වය පිලිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නයක් පමණක් නොවේ. ජා.මූ. අරමුදලේ කොන්දේසි නිසා දැඩි ලෙස පීඩාවට පත්වූ රටක් වූ ග්‍රීසියේ, 2015 දී බලයට පත්වූ වාමාංශික සිරිසා පක්ෂයේ ආණ්ඩුවේ මුදල් ඇමති වූ යානිස් වරුෆාකිස් IMF හි ප්‍රශ්නය කුමක්දැ’යි පැහැදිලිව විස්තර කොට තිබේ ; ජා.මූ අරමුදල යෝජනා කරන කප්පාදු පිලිවෙත් (austerity measures) වල අවසාන ප්‍රතිඵලය වන්නේ ආර්ථිකය සංකෝචනය වීමය. ආර්ථික අවපාත සමයක දී පෞද්ගලික අංශය ආයෝජන කටයුතු සඳහා යොමු නොවේ. ඒ ඔවුන්ට ලැබෙන ලාභය අඩු බවට වූ තක්සේරුව මතය. මේ නිසා කල යුතු වන්නේ රජය වැඩියෙන් මැදිහත් වී රාජ්‍ය වියදම් වැඩි කිරිම හරහා ආර්ථික වර්ධනය උද්දීපනය කිරීමය. ඊට ප්‍රතිමුඛ ලෙස, ජා.මූ. අරමුදල අණ කරන්නේ රජයට සිය වියදම් කපා හරින ලෙසටය. අවපාත සමයක පෞද්ගලික අංශය ආයෝජන කටයුතු නොකරන පසුබිමක් තුල, රජයත් සිය වියදම් කප්පාදු කලහොත් එහි ප්‍රතිඵලය වන්නේ ආර්ථික වර්ධනය ඇණ හිට, ආර්ථිකය සංකෝචනය වීමය. මෙලෙස සංකෝචනය වන ආර්ථිකයකට තම ණය ගෙවීම සිදු කල නොහේ. IMF වට්ටෝරුව විසඳුමක් නොව, ප්‍රශ්නය තවත් පැටලවීමක් බවට වරුෆාකිස් බඳු අය තර්ක කරන්නේ එම පදනම මතය.
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ලිපිය බාගත කරන්න, පහත සම්බන්ධය මගින්,
Face the Nation TV1- Role of IMF and the future of the economy – 2022.04.18
Role of IMF and the future of the economy
ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගතකරණය සහ ව්‍යුහාත්මක ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ: කාරණය පංතියයි, මෝඩයා! – අහිලන් කදිර්ගාමර්
“මෙහිදී, ගැටලුව වන්නේ ණය ලබා දෙන නියෝජිතයන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ණය ( ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ සහතිකයක් තුළින් හෝ ණය ගෙවීමට ඇති විවිධ නියෝජිතයන් සමග විටින් විට ගෙවීමේ පදනම මත ගිවිස ගැනීමකින් හෝ) ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කළත් ආනයන විසින් අපනයන ඉක්මවා යනු ලබන තත්වය යටතේ රට කෙටි කලකදී වැඩි වැඩියෙන් විදේශ ණය රැස් කර ගනී. එමනිසා ප්‍රධාන ධාරාවේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යාඥයන් ආනයන සීමා කිරීම පිළිබඳව කිසිදා කතා නොකරන්නේ මන්ද? මක්නිසාද දශක ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අනුගමනය කරමින් සිටින ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිපත්ති ගොනුව (වර්තමාන මොහොතේ ව්‍යුහාත්මක ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ යනුවෙන් හඳුන්වන්නේ එය කඩිනම් කිරීමයි.) සතුව ඇත්තේ හරයෙන් වෙළඳ නිර්බාධීකරණය පිළිබඳ අදහසයි. මෙහි ප්‍රතිඵලය වන්නේ ආනයන වියදම නොසළකා රට තුළට භාණ්ඩ නිදහසේ ගලා ඒමයි.”
ඉතිරිය සඳහා බලන්න,
ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගතකරණය සහ ව්‍යුහාත්මක ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ: කාරණය පංතියයි, මෝඩයා!
Exclusive: Lanka in no negotiating position with China, India, IMF; government losing support, say Lankan experts
Sri Lanka is in the worst debt crisis in its own history. Fuel, medicine, gas: everything is in shortage. Power cuts last 7-1/2 hours. So what led to this disastrous situation? Sri Lankan economist Ahilan Kadirgamar and political analyst Uditha Devapriya break it down to Padma Rao Sundarji for Times Online.
To view the video, click on the link below:
Lanka in no negotiating position with China, India, IMF
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is decades in the making
Ahilan Kadirgamar, senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, explains the roots of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. He talks about the decades of policies that have led the country to where it is today, the impact of the pandemic, and the blow farmers suffered with the decision by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to ban chemical fertilizers.
Part 1
Watch, the video in the link below:
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is decades in the making
Part 2 : How can Sri Lanka’s economy be turned around?
ராஜபக்சேவுக்கு எதிராக மக்கள் கிளர்ச்சி… மூள்கிறதா உள்நாட்டு கலகம்? தப்புமா ராஜபக்சே குடும்பம்?
கேள்விக்களம் | ராஜபக்சேவுக்கு எதிராக மக்கள் கிளர்ச்சி… 26 அமைச்சர்கள் கூண்டோடு ராஜினாமா; அரசில் சேர மறுக்கும் எதிர்க்கட்சிகள்… மூள்கிறதா உள்நாட்டு கலகம்? தப்புமா ராஜபக்சே குடும்பம்?
ராஜபக்சேவுக்கு எதிராக மக்கள் கிளர்ச்சி…
What’s happening in Sri Lanka and how did the economic crisis start?
by R Ramakumar, Professor of Economics, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
For this reason, Sri Lanka frequently encountered balance of payments crises. From 1965 onwards, it obtained 16 loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Each of these loans came with conditions including that once Sri Lanka received the loan they had to reduce their budget deficit, maintain a tight monetary policy, cut government subsidies for food for the people of Sri Lanka, and depreciate the currency (so exports would become more viable).
But usually in periods of economic downturns, good fiscal policy dictates governments should spend more to inject stimulus into the economy. This becomes impossible with the IMF conditions. Despite this situation, the IMF loans kept coming, and a beleaguered economy soaked up more and more debt.
The last IMF loan to Sri Lanka was in 2016. The country received US 1.5 billion for three years from 2016 to 2019. The conditions were familiar, and the economy’s health nosedived over this period. Growth, investments, savings and revenues fell, while the debt burden rose.
Click on the link below to read the article,
What’s happening in Sri Lanka and how did the economic crisis start?
Academics et al call for broadening and concretising democratic moment into sustained political action
It is important at this juncture that touted solutions do not compound the crisis. IMF involvement is very much on the table: the neoliberal economic thought that sees the IMF as the ideal solution extends across the political spectrum. However, it is decades of neoliberal policies that have led us to this crisis in the first place. Neoliberalism promotes policy that safeguards private property rights and free markets, overriding social concerns. Globally, social services, such as transportation, health and education have become spaces for racketeering and private profit, and transformed governments to be facilitators of this process. No longer is the state expected to provide services to the public and no longer do such services belong to the public. As a result, the role of the state has weakened and we have become victims of the vagaries of markets. We have witnessed the slashing of spending on social welfare.
Deregulation and privatization have become the norm. Today, we rely on the remittances of exploited migrant workers and heavy international borrowing, instead of developing production along viable lines, leading to self-sufficiency. In the event of an IMF intervention, we should keep the above in mind.
Click on the link below to read the article,
Protesters, power cuts and Sri Lanka’s persistent president
Empty shelves, rising food and fuel costs along with power cuts are unifying much of Sri Lanka against its president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. And now, the economic crisis may be even worse. Rajapaksa’s government is announcing the country is no longer able to repay billions in loans. How did this happen? And what is in store for the people of Sri Lanka as the country continues to struggle with this new economic reality?
In this episode:
- Marisa DeSilva, Activist
- Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar, Senior Lecturer at the University of Jaffna
- Dr. Vasan Ratnasingam, Media representative, Government Medical Officers’ Association
To listen to the podcast click on the link below:
Protesters, power cuts and Sri Lanka’s persistent president
What are the implications of Sri Lanka’s debt default? | Inside Story
The economic crisis in Sri Lanka appears to be getting worse by the day. Its government has been forced to default on its entire $51 billion of external debt. There’s been a shortage of food, fuel and schools had to cancel exams for a lack of paper. It’s all led to weeks of anti-government protests – culminating in calls for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign. But what does the default mean? Presenter: Dareen Abughaida Guests: Jehan Perera – Executive Director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka. Ahilan Kadirgamar – Political Economist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Jaffna. Amantha Perera – Researcher at the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity in Australia.
Watch the video.
Frying Pan of Shortages to the Post-IMF Fire
by Ahilan Kadirgamar
What is it about an IMF agreement that is worrying? After all, Sri Lanka has gone through 16 IMF agreements. Most recently in June 2016, Sri Lanka under the leadership of Wickremesinghe sealed an IMF Extended Fund Facility of US$ 1.5 billion, and prior to that, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government signed an IMF Standby Arrangement of US$ 2.6 billion in July 2009. Those agreements had the same goals of putting forward the interests of capital and the market to the detriment of people’s welfare. So, one may ask what is so significant about the IMF agreement that is currently being negotiated? The difference now is that much like Sri Lanka’s economic situation in 1977-1978, the current conjuncture can lead to tremendous changes. In particular, wither our desperate economic situation, we have no bargaining power and are far more vulnerable, and likely to be forced into implementing severe conditionalities.
To read the article click on the link below:
Frying Pan of Shortages to the Post-IMF Fire
On The Brink of Collapse, Sri Lankans Want Their Rulers Out
by Maria Tavernini
“Today’s crisis sinks its roots into the liberalization at the end of the 70s”, according to Ahilan Kadirgamar, a political economist, Honorary Chairman of the Northern Co-operative Development Bank and Senior Lecturer at the University of Jaffna. “Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to open its economy in 1977-78, when international trade and the financial system were liberalized. We entered globalization even before many other countries and that led to the neglect of our own production capacity”.
To read the article click on the link below:
On The Brink of Collapse, Sri Lankans Want Their Rulers Out
Can India Show South Asia The Way? | News Today With Rajdeep Sardesai | South Asia Roundtable
India to buck economic turbulence? Will Sri Lanka be in a better place a year from now? Will Pakistan emerge stronger now? Experts put forwards their views. In a discussion on NewsToday with Rajdeep Sardesai.
Can India Show South Asia The Way?
Why Sri Lanka Is Facing Its Worst Eco Crisis? | India Development Debate
After the mass resignation from all 26 members of the cabinet in Sri Lanka, new ministers were appointed in the country’s central government. An acute shortage of essential goods such as food, petrol, electricity forced citizens to take to the streets, with the protesters demanding resignation of the country’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Trading was halted on Sri Lanka stock exchange after it plunged nearly 6%. Just hours after the curfew was lifted in the capital city of Colombo, protestors took to the streets once again, demanding resignation of the Rajapaksa brothers from the post of President and Prime Minister. But will changing ministers change the reality of the country and the citizens? Are wrong policies responsible for the island nation’s mounting troubles? We give a complete lowdown of the Sri Lankan economic crisis on the India Development Debate with Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar, Sr Lecturer, University Of Jaffna, Siddhartha Sanyal, Chief Economist & Head Research, Bandhan Bank, Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema, Editor, Sunday Morning Newspaper.
Why Sri Lanka Is Facing Its Worst Eco Crisis?
Urgent plea by Sri Lankan feminists to address the unfolding humanitarian criticised by the economic collapse in Sri Lanka
The Government’s responses so far are limited to obtaining loans to address the debt situation and approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance. We are concerned that actors such as the IMF and others may enforce fiscal consolidation by way of austerity policies. They have often assumed this to be a viable strategy to make debt sustainable. However, regressive tax policies such as the increase of direct tax via VAT, and cuts in public expenditure will only undermine improvements in productivity and deter inclusive economic growth along with a robust social infrastructure. Investment in health, education and care services are imperative to improve human productivity and wellbeing. Analyses of this economic crisis are dominated by neoliberal economists and mainstream macroeconomic narratives. These have largely dehumanised the crisis thus yielding responses that do not address the pressing concerns of women, working people and marginalised communities. We are seriously concerned about the long-standing causes for the crisis, such as corruption in public enterprises and failure to introduce progressive tax policies. While these remain unaddressed, we anticipate attempts to privatise public services which will, again transfer economic burden on to the people.
To read the statement click on the link below
The IMF and the middle-class
By Uditha Devapriya
The neoliberal right considers going to the IMF as a foregone contingency that we should neither question nor reject. It’s no small irony that commentators who, barely a year ago, were criticising the government’s economic policies, have backtracked, praising Ministers and officials for toeing their line. It’s also no small irony that economists and pundits who once urged the country to seek IMF support, arguing that it would bring much needed relief to people, are now adding the caveat that it will come at a price: austerity for the masses, ostensibly for the upper classes, but also for the middle-classes.
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'කතිකා' සංවාද මණ්ඩපය 'kathika' sanvada mandapaya 