In the latest episode of Sri Lanka: Debt, Development, and Democracy? A'ndre speaks with Subhashini Abeysinghe, a prominent Sri Lankan economist who works on international trade issues with Verité Research, about the state of Sri Lanka's economy and the nature of its debt crisis. Subhashini has been working on a data-driven analysis of China's economic engagement in Sri Lanka, and in this episode provides a more objective and nuanced take on Sri Lanka-China relations in contrast to some of the more political voices we've heard over the course of this miniseries. Subhashini takes the time to distinguish between Chinese loans and Chinese investments, and talks about how each form of engagement has presented itself in Sri Lanka's economy. She takes us through some of the economic projects that have made the news recently, such as Hambantota Port and the Colombo Port City, and also credits the current debt crisis to mismanagement by successive governments in Sri Lanka. We also dig into U.S. economic engagement in Sri Lanka, and what that has looked like as well.
The Burn Bag Podcast