According to the World Bank the Sri Lankan economy is going to contract by 9.2% in 2022 and a further 4.2% in 2023. This is what we call an economic depression. Given the Budget that was just announced, I argue we are going to see an even larger contraction next year. What does this contraction mean? It means people are losing their income streams, with unemployment on the rise and livelihoods disrupted. A food crisis linked to the crippling of the economy is leading to increased malnourishment and starvation. We are going to lose a generation, as our children’s education and wellbeing are affected.
'kathika' social, cultural and political review
From politics
Sri Lanka’s stalled revolt
There were voices among them saying, “Let’s give Wickremesinghe and his international backers a chance to address the crisis.”
Such fear of change
by Usvatte-aratchi For a people brought up in a culture, the foundation of which lies in the learning that all things change (sabbe sankhara anicca), the fear of change is inexplicable. Sudden and gross change is feared more than gradual change; hence the fear of death, common among most people. Revolutionary changes in society are…
Sri Lanka’s Economic Depression and the IMF
Farzana Haniffa, Ahilan Kadirgamar 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…
There Are No Good Guys in this War!
by Gnamali It is nearly two weeks since the war started in Ukraine, a country ten times the area of Sri Lanka, with twice its population. In many ways, its experience seems to have parallels with the Sri Lankan experience – with the notable exception that Ukraine has 15 nuclear power plants that appear to…
They redirect popular anger about inequality into violent rage against minorities – Bernie Sanders
But the struggle we are facing today is not just economic. Across the globe, the movement toward oligarchy runs parallel to the growth of authoritarian regimes – like Putin in Russia, Xi in China, Mohamed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and Viktor Orbán in Hungry among…