Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, has been forced to resign amid mass protests over his mismanagement of the economy. The country is suffering runaway inflation and shortages of food, fuel and basic supplies.

Ido Vock speaks to Ganeshan Wignaraja, senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, a British think tank, and a former senior official at the Asian Development Bank. They discuss the background to Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, the role of debt-trap diplomacy, and what the resignation of the president will mean for the country.

Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

Further reading:

Katie Stallard writes Sri Lanka's protests boil over

Himal Kotelawala reports on Sri Lanka on the brink

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hacking of the American Mind with Dr. Robert Lustig