Protests and Economic Instability in Sri Lanka
On April 28, 2022, hundreds of labor unions in Sri Lanka went on strike to protest the current administration, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa was elected in 2019 and almost immediately bankrupted the nation by introducing sweeping tax cuts. This has left Sri Lanka with massive foreign debts and almost no reserve, on the verge of completely running out of essential resources like food, water, and medicine. Rajapaksa comes from a wealthy and influential family that has been deeply intertwined in Sri Lankan politics for the last two decades. There has been a buildup of debt in the nation's government for an even longer period though, and a series of economically devastating events, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have left the country in a very desperate place.
Sri Lanka, like many nations that suffered over four centuries of brutal British colonization, is still dealing with the impact. In terms of its economic history, under British rule, Sri Lanka's main economic foundation was agriculture, both subsistence and export--mainly tea, rubber, and coconut. However, it depended heavily on imports for most of its food and other goods. After gaining independence in 1948, the government focused on building robust social support systems and attempting to rely less on foreign imports. Obviously prioritizing the welfare of your citizenry is a really good move for a government to make, but because the Sri Lankan government was funneling so many resources towards it and particularly because of the limits that were placed on imports there was not much growth in industry in the country. (I'm not trying to argue that industry is the ultimate good or that it should be a country's number one priority but it does help when it comes to dealing with debt.) After about 3 decades they pivoted their economic model to be a lot less governmentally controlled and were initially successful at building industry and accruing capital in the country. Other economically draining events, however, stagnated that progress.
Sri Lanka is a country with a history of colonization and difficulty building an economy that can both support its citizens and avoid the cycle of foreign debt that plagues so many formerly colonized nations. Borrowing money to help supplement their current economic crisis will help in the short run and some countries have offered to help with the humanitarian crisis that this has caused. Indonesia, for example, offered to donate $1.6 million worth of medicine to the country to supplement them.
As much as that aid is necessary and beneficial, Sri Lanka being further indebted to other nations will ultimately just further this cycle of economic instability. The safety and survival of Sri Lankan citizens should be their government's number one priority, and I hope that they accept the offered aid. I also hope that if the current President steps down as the people of Sri Lanka so clearly want him to, his replacement will prioritize the people over granting tax breaks. However, even if these two things go well for the country, which it is not entirely clear that they will, that does not mean that the future of Sri Lanka will be certain.
Any nation on the verge of economic collapse is a social justice issue because the people that suffer the most under it will be those who are the most vulnerable to instability--which is as true in America as everywhere else under a capitalist global economic structure. I hope that the demands of the Sri Lankan populace are met and that the international community does not immediately forget them and their problems once they are out of the news cycle, but I worry that neither will take place
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This is a super informative post. Before reading this I knew nothing about this issue and I think you did a great job of introducing people to the problems of Sri Lanka's economy. Colonialism worldwide has been extremely detrimental to the economies of various countries and I've seen first hand what poverty can look like in South Asia because of this. I think its important and impactful that you brought up this historical element and how it plays into the modern day struggles of Sri Lanka.
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