US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lue praised Sri Lanka for successfully managing a serious economic crisis in a very short time.
Speaking at a discussion on India’s neighboring states held in Washington D.C., he said that he visited the Maldives the other day, where he explained to the local authorities about the influence of China in the region. He said there that China will be a good partner for any country only if there is a real competitor with the Beijing regime.
Sri Lanka’s “Historic Comeback“
Further commenting there, he said that he preferred to signal a “comeback story” rather than citing a large number of strategic achievements.
”A year and a half ago, Sri Lanka was mired in a massive crisis. Terrible riots were seen along the highways. People stood in long queues for petrol and food. Finally, the protesters occupied the President’s house. Undeterred, the protesters were even tempted to swim in his swimming pool.
But if you have been to Sri Lanka recently, you may have realized that it is a very different place. Now the country is peaceful. The Sri Lankan Rupee has stabilized. Commodity and fuel prices are stable. Lenders have given assurances on debt restructuring in Sri Lanka. That’s all, the IMF money flows into the country. They quickly recovered from a serious economic crisis. It’s amazing..
How did this happen? Sri Lanka solved the problem with a little help from friendly countries. One thing we have seen is that countries like India provided Sri Lanka with the necessary supplies to get through the most difficult times by providing concessional loans.
America also provided hundreds of millions of dollars for agricultural inputs, fertilizers and seeds through USAID. The farmers were able to resume the agricultural activities that had stopped by using that money.
The creditor community, led by Japan, France and India, spent months negotiating to find a formula to allow Sri Lanka to sustainably restructure its debt. Because of the pressure it caused, China had to agree to debt restructuring. IMF benefits and the changes in the economy you see today started from there,” he said.