Sri Lanka to restart IMF bailout talks, new president says
NBCAPR 2022
Sri Lanka's crisis is a product of Chinese foreign policy, specifically its practice of "debt-trap diplomacy." China offers to build sparkling new infrastructure based on unsustainable amounts of debt, then host countries default and China gets a new link in its "Belt and Road Initiative."
Chinese "debt trap" accusations are a myth, given only 10% of the nation's debt is owed to the PRC. Sri Lanka's debt crisis is the result of Western meddling. The pandemic and some ill-timed policies have fueled the crisis, but it was engendered when the country acceded to the neoliberal path promoted by the West through undemocratic institutions that impose impossible conditions on developing countries.
The only ones responsible for Sri Lanka's situation are the entrenched political elite. Prior to Sri Lanka injecting liquidity in its economy amid the pandemic, the IMF had warned the country its debt was unsustainable and proposed measures to solve the problem in a five-year timeframe. However, Sri Lankan leaders refused to restructure its debt, claiming that the situation was manageable.