Violence against the people of Greece by the IMF
Terms of the International Monetary Fund
Economic program of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is the next victim of the International Monetary Fund
There is a clear difference between taking “bitter medicine” and “drinking poison.” Sri Lanka should not drink poison thinking that it is a bitter medicine to get rid of the current economic crisis. Yanis Varoufakis.
Yannis Varoufakis is the former finance minister of Greece. He is a person who experienced the humanitarian tragedy of the IMF organization in Greece. According to Varoufakis, Greece went to the IMF in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018 but nothing good happened. In the end, he says that Greece fell into the frying pan through the economic reforms they influenced the International Monetary Fund. Varoufakis is leaving his post because his Prime Minister has re-contracted with the IMF for the third time despite his advice. Yannis Varoufakis says that the IMF has finally apologized to Greece for the violence that happened to the people of Greece. The same thing happened in countries like South Korea and Argentina. There is hardly any country in the world that was built with the help of the IMF.
In his book Globalization and Its Discontents, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, calls the International Monetary Fund “the primary culprit in the implementation of failed economic reforms in the world’s poorest countries.” According to Joseph Stiglis, if the International Monetary Fund were to lend to a country, their conditions would be fiscal austerity, high interest rates, trade liberalization, privatization, and opening of the capital market. capital markets) in the implementation of things like deregulation, in addition to causing undue effects on the economy of those countries, the people of those countries will have to enjoy the unbearable results. By now you in Sri Lanka are well aware that it is true.
Today, Sri Lanka is facing the following consequences. The economic council troika in some political parties in Sri Lanka also propose such reforms in their economic program.
They always find the right managers to do what the IMF wants. They always tried to implement their reform recipe in Sri Lanka with Ranil Wickramasinghe. This time they have succeeded in their efforts for a long time. Therefore, protecting him is the need of the United States led by the International Monetary Fund.
The International Monetary Fund is offering to give relief to Sri Lanka through their Lord, sovereigns such as Black Rock Inc (US), Ashmore Group (UK), Allianz (Germany), HSBC (UK), JPMorgan Chase (US), Prudential (US) who have given loans to Sri Lanka. Nothing but the protection of bondholders. As I stated in yesterday’s article, although Sri Lanka has received from them a share of 36% of the total debt through sovereign bonds (the debt stock is 100.9 billion dollars) https://www.mof.lk>update>to>creditors the government of Sri Lanka pays for the total debt 76% of the interest is exploited by the above few bondholders.
Even if Sri Lanka’s low-income earner begs on the highway, industries close, professionals protest on the streets, students march, or in short attack the country, it is enough if the ruler implements the recipe recommended by them to get loans to the International Monetary Fund or the above companies. . Apart from that, they have no human feelings. That is the tragedy. A country as beautiful as many middle class people in Sri Lanka think will not be created through this.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is going to become the next victim of the International Monetary Fund. You can watch it after the 21st. It is clear from the reading of the new currency act that the International Monetary Fund has prepared the Governor for that as they need. The International Monetary Fund is preparing to form another government apart from the government elected by the people through the new currency bill.
Naomi Klein’s Disaster Capitalism is now working well in Sri Lanka. This screenplay is well explained in her book Shock Doctrine. But the people of Sri Lanka don’t want to know them. All this must be done before the anesthetized people can open their eyes, according to the guru of neoliberalism, Milton Friedman. The ruler of Sri Lanka is doing it well. When people get up, they find that their clothes have been taken away. Until then, people of Sri Lanka, sleep well.
Shantha Jayaratne
Former Senior Advisor of Sri Lanka Development Administration
17.3.2023