Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Protests Reach Fever Pitch in Sri Lanka Amid Historic Economic Crisis

In Sri Lanka, the government has imposed a state of emergency to control protests and mass anger over a deepening economic crisis that has led to debilitating shortages of food, fuel, and basic goods.

Facebook Twitter Share
Protestors hold banners and placards during a demonstration against the surge in prices and shortage of fuel and other essential commodities in Colombo on April 1, 2022. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP)

In the face of increasing protests against the government, Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency across the country. Fueled by a 13-hour long power cut amid a spiraling crisis of historic proportions, hundreds stormed Rajapaksa’s home this past Thursday. With intensifying anger over the government’s mishandling of the economic crisis, protesters demanded with chants, signs and slogans that Rajapaksa and his entire cabinet resign immediately.

The state deployed riot police who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Protesters, in response, set fire to an army bus and police vehicle. Over 40 people were arrested and 50 people were injured during the protests. In order to control the protests, the state declared a curfew. 

A spiraling economy

The protests mark the latest chapter in an economic situation that has been worsening over the last few years. The current crisis, the worst in decades, has caused huge shortages in food, fuel, and energy, with the country experiencing 10- to 12-hour long power cuts every day.

In the years before the pandemic, the country saw a downturn in tourism — which accounts for 10 percent of the GDP — due to domestic turmoil. As Covid-19 spread across the world and tourism further declined, so did the nation’s revenue. The pandemic exacerbated the country’s long-brewing “balance of payments” problem, especially after the deep tax cuts implemented by Rajapaksa after he took office in 2019. Now, the nation’s foreign reserve is depleted, shrinking to less than $2 billion in February, which was only enough to pay for another month and a half’s worth of imports. The country, meanwhile, is also burdened with foreign debt repayments, of which $7 billion is due just this year and $1 billion due by July.

A net importer of goods, the island nation relies heavily on the import of basic commodities, including medicine and numerous food items. Now, with foreign reserves drying up, the country has severely restricted imports on what it deems “non-essential”, including milk products like butter, cheese, yogurt, fish, and fruits.

Did you know Left Voice has a podcast? Listen to All That’s Left on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The crisis has only accelerated in the last few weeks, and shows no sign of slowing down. There are now acute shortages of food, fuel and cooking gas. Inflation now is at over 14 percent and food inflation is at over 25 percent. Out of diesel and oil, many have abandoned their cars, and public transit is taking a hit. Schools have canceled examinations due to paper shortages. Many state-run hospitals have stopped surgeries as they run out of essential medicines, and most have stopped diagnostic tests due to chemical shortages. Power outages of up to 13 hours also makes it impossible for many people to work. 

Rajapaksa’s proximity to China has also created tensions after they claimed an area of 270 hectares in Sri Lanka to build an international port. The area is a strategic location of transit between Asia and the West. 

What next?

The crisis in Sri Lanka must be understood within the current context of the war in Ukraine, one which has had a profound economic effect on the country. A quarter of people who arrived in Sri Lanka as tourists this year were from Russia and Ukraine. Additionally, Russia was the second largest buyer of Sri Lankan tea, even in 2022. Both tourism and tea exportation were reported to bring in more than $260 million in foreign currency, according to India Times. 

In order to find a way out of the situation, the Rajapaksa government is looking towards the IMF and the World Bank for a bailout. In anticipation of their meeting in April, the government has devalued the Sri Lankan rupee against the U.S. dollar by 50 percent, leading to more inflation and rise in prices of goods, especially fuel.

The opposition forces are calling for the government to resign but, as of now, there isn’t an alternative that provides a working-class solution to the crisis. While there is public debate over the foreign debt, it is only within the realm of whether to refinance or completely restructure the whole debt; foreign investors are pushing for the latter. Both these solutions only represent more misery for Sri Lankans, especially because they’ll come coupled with more austerity measures that will further squeeze the working class. 

The need for the cancellation of foreign debt for Sri Lanka — as with all countries affected by this imperialist mechanism of exploitation and extortion — becomes more potent, along with the need to nationalize strategic industries to cut off the dependence on imperialist powers. Along with the burden of the foreign debt, the war in Ukraine is further exacerbating the crisis and suffering for the masses around the world. Only the international action of workers around the world can stop it.

Facebook Twitter Share

Sou Mi

Sou Mi is an activist based in New York City.

Asia-Pacific

China’s Rise, ‘Diminished Dependency,’ and Imperialism in Times of World Disorder

In this broad-ranging interview, originally published in LINKS, Trotskyist Fraction member Esteban Mercatante discusses how recent global shifts in processes of capital accumulation have contributed to China’s rise, the new (and old) mechanisms big powers use to plunder the Global South, and its implications for anti-imperialist and working-class struggles today.

Esteban Mercatante

September 22, 2023

Strike for Wages at Chevron-Australia Could Hit 5 Percent of Global Gas Production

Chevron workers in Western Australia are escalating a strike at two of the world's largest gas facilities. They are demanding wage rises and better working conditions.

Arthur Nicola

September 14, 2023

The Roots of the Rebellion at Foxconn

Jenny Chan is a researcher and professor at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. She is co-author of the book Dying for an iPhone. She spoke with La Izquerda Diario about the causes of the rebellion by workers at the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, China.

Josefina L. Martínez

December 7, 2022
Participants in a memorial ceremony lay flowers to pay respect to a deceased 23-year-old worker in front of the SPC headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. She died in an accident at a baking factory in Pyeongtaek affiliated with SPC on Saturday.

How Workers and Socialists are Responding to a Workplace Death at One of South Korea’s Largest Food Manufacturers

Following a workplace death at SPC group, one of the largest food manufacturers in South Korea, a consumer boycott quickly gained traction. Organized workers and revolutionary socialists are playing a role in this struggle.

Samuel Karlin

November 12, 2022

MOST RECENT

Former president Donald Trump standing at a podium in front of American flags.

To Stop Trump, We Need Much More Democracy, Not Less

Democrats have been trying to kick Trump off the ballot as an "insurrectionist." Liberals say we have to restrict democracy in order to save it. As socialists, we think they have it backwards: to beat the Far Right, we need a mass movement fighting for radical democracy.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 18, 2024

Declaration: End Imperialist Intervention in Haiti, Solidarity with the Haitian People

The “Multinational Security Support Mission” announced by the United States marks a new imperialist-colonial intervention in Haiti by the United States, the UN, and their allies.

“Poor Things” Floats Like a Butterfly and Stings Like a Butterfly

Poor Things is a fantastical comedy with beautiful set design and costumes and an Oscar-winning performance from Emma Stone. So why did it leave me feeling so empty? Despite juggling feminist and socialist ideas, the film is ideologically muddled and often self-contradictory.

Basil Rozlaban

March 16, 2024

New Jersey Democrats Attack the Public’s Right to Government Records

The New Jersey state assembly, led by the Democratic Party, just tried to fast-track a bill that would have gutted the Open Public Records Act. This is a reminder that their party is an obstacle, not an ally, in the fight to preserve democracy.

Samuel Karlin

March 15, 2024