Sri Lanka đã trở lại

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…for Sri Lanka, the only country in the region to default on its official debt amid the economic squeeze caused by the pandemic (đại dịch) and the Ukraine war, these are sunny days.

Tourism revenue (doanh thu từ du lịch) and remittances (kiều hối) from Sri Lankan workers overseas have come roaring back. Inflation, which reached 70% last September, was back down to 6.3% in July. As a result, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has cut its benchmark interest rate by 4.5 percentage points since June…

To win the IMF's support, Colombo took hard but much-needed steps to increase fuel and electricity prices (tăng giá năng lượng và điện) as well as raise tax rates (tăng thuế suất) and extend the tax net (mở rộng mạng lưới thuế). A new central bank governor raised benchmark interest rates by 8 percentage points over the course of 2022 to try to put a lid on inflation and bring a degree of macroeconomic stability (ổn định kinh tế vĩ mô)…

The IMF, which approved support for Colombo in March, estimates Sri Lanka's current-account deficit (thâm hụt tài khoản vãng lai) will be around 1.5% of gross domestic product from this year onward. This would be a manageable (có thể kiểm soát được) and normal level for any developing country that is a net importer of fuel and food.