A group of 121 world’s top economists – including the Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz – have called for Sri Lanka’s debt payments to be suspended as it tackles the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah, ‘The Guardian’ reports.
The country’s $9bn (£6.8bn) national debt was restructured last year, after lengthy negotiations with creditors after the government defaulted on repayments in 2022. But development campaigners warned at the time that the burden on Sri Lankan taxpayers remained unsustainable.
Before the cyclone hit, annual repayments were expected to total 25% of government revenues – a high level by international and historical standards.
In a statement (shown below), the group of 120 global experts called for fresh debt restructuring to restore the country’s repayments to a manageable level, given the scale of environmental destruction.