Crisis-hit Pakistan has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over $3bn (£2.4bn) of funding. The deal, which still needs to be approved by the global lender’s board, comes after an eight-month delay. The South Asian nation is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1947. To help secure […]

By Chandre Dharmawardana chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca According to a recent news report (The Island 23rd June 2023), Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has claimed that the “agricultural sector to be transformed into an export-oriented economy”! This is a surprising statement since the plantation sector, established by the British, has been from the start (and even now) an export-oriented economy....

by Rajan Philips Last week saw a spate of summits underscoring the global economic and geopolitical headwinds that governments and countries have to cope with and navigate through. First, there was the visit to China by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. This was followed by a state visit to Washington by India’s Prime […]

WASHINGTON —  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told U.S. lawmakers Thursday the United States-India partnership is bound by the shared values of respecting debate and equality in a democracy. “The U.S. is the oldest and India the largest democracy,” Modi said, addressing a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. “Our partnership augurs well for the […]

CNN- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi basked in the most lavish honors that the US can bestow on a visiting leader. But for much of his state visit, the specter of an uninvited guest hovered over Washington and the future of US-India relations. China – and the growing belief that the US is on a collision course with […]

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and Narendra Modi hailed a new era in their countries’ relationship after the White House rolled out the red carpet for the Indian prime minister on Thursday, touting deals on defense and commerce aimed at countering China’s global influence. “Two great nations, two great friends, and […]

By Prabhat Patnaik After Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Bangladesh has become the third country in our neighbourhood to become afflicted by a serious economic crisis. It has asked for a $4.5 billion loan from the IMF, apart from $1 billion from the World Bank and $2.5-3 billion from multilateral agencies and donor nations. Though the […]

From the viewpoint of the South, the recent visit by a delegation of African political leaders to Russia for the primary purpose of impressing on President Vladimir Putin the need to end the conflict in Ukraine is welcome news. The visit is doubly important for at least two main reasons; first, the mounting economic pressures […]

By Y P Prakash The growth of regional industries is crucial for India to realize its ambitions of becoming a global manufacturing hub, and India’s potential in this regard is undeniable. The International Monetary Fund predicts that India’s GDP will grow by 6.1% in 2023, surpassing China’s projected growth of 4.4%. Furthermore, India is expected […]

A big Polish chicken producer has been knocking on China’s door for eight years without selling a single drumstick, but hope springs eternal according to one of its representatives. Wipasz deputy sales director Rafat Koztowski attended the China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, last month on his second visit to China since […]

By Chani Imbulgoda “We suffer today, because leaders in the past have failed to govern this country properly”. Oh, the predecessor has not done things well, they all have let the place go haywire”. Familiar excuses… When one takes over the leadership be it the country, be it an organisation, or be it a new […]

India has done more for Sri Lanka than the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, has told the Indian Express. The IE story, filed from Ahmedabad, said: The Modi government, he [Jaishankar] underlined, is working on developing an “extended neighbourhood” that involves islands in the Indian Ocean, Gulf countries and […]

Sri Lanka is among three South Asian governments that increased borrowing from domestic banks to finance their record debt, and, as a result, sovereign-bank nexus increased, heightening the financial sector’s vulnerability, according to a World Bank report. The other two countries are the Maldives and Pakistan, says a WB report, titled ‘A mixed bag for […]

CPC, CEB need to recover costs until end of Fund’s loan package By Rathindra Kuruwita The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had to recover costs until the end of the IMF programme, Sarwat Jahan, IMF Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, told a press conference in Colombo yesterday. The IMF also wanted the […]

AP photographers Eranga Jayawardena and Rafiq Maqbool were named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for images capturing anger over economic collapse in Sri Lanka. The AP images from Sri Lanka captured the full range of human emotion with protesters pumping their fists in the air shouting anti-government slogans, and also shielding […]