Sri Lanka Faces Mounting Hardships as IMF Bailout Demands Austerity
-
Sri Lanka faces austerity measures like increased taxes to meet IMF bailout conditions, causing hardship and prompting professional emigration.
-
Inflation has reduced but remains high, eroding incomes already hit by tax hikes and living costs.
-
Sri Lanka must increase revenues, remove exemptions, eliminate evasion per IMF, but risks worsening emigration of professionals.
-
Proposed electricity tariff hikes have paralyzed small businesses, while social safety nets have shrunk despite IMF call to widen them.
-
With contracting industrial and services activity, Sri Lanka walks a tightrope between IMF reforms and rebuilding society burdened by austerity.
![](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/og_image_scmp_generic/public/d8/images/canvas/2023/10/06/5c11fb86-7ce5-442e-b437-e290ebceee80_89830e0f.jpg?itok=0pgXQtka&v=1696597361)