Global economists call for suspension of Sri Lanka’s debt payments

Tuesday, 23 December 2025 04:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A group of 121 leading economists and academics has called for the immediate suspension of Sri Lanka’s external sovereign debt payments, arguing that the country’s latest IMF-backed restructuring leaves it highly exposed to climate-driven disasters.

In a statement on Sri Lanka’s climate crisis and its 48-month IMF Extended Fund Facility, they said the current deal offers only limited debt-service relief and fails to restore debt sustainability under the new risk environment. The group urged a new restructuring framework that treats climate disasters as systemic shocks and provides significant debt cancellation without punitive conditions to enable recovery, social protection and reconstruction. Signatories include Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Piketty, Yanis Varoufakis, Jayati Ghosh, and Stephanie Kelton.