Only 15% Think Sri Lanka Can ‘Likely’ Solve Its Economic Crisis

Sri Lanka is facing a historic collapse of its economy that has thrown the administration into turmoil. People have been struggling with regular power outages while also dealing with the shortage of necessities like fuel, food, and medications. Furthermore, inflation has risen to more than 50%.

The government blamed the Covid pandemic, which negatively affected Sri Lanka’s tourist industry – one of the country’s largest foreign currency earners. Many economists, however, blame President Rajapaksa’s weak economic management. Consequently, public outrage over worsening Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has erupted into fierce street rallies. Thus, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in its history to seek general public opinion. Here are the results.

Highlights:

• 77.61% are aware of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as President in 2019
• 78.39% are aware of Rajapaksa’s political power over Sri Lanka for the past 17 years
• 53.67% consider power cuts as the worst consequence of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis

Sri Lanka’s Crisis: The Fall of the Rajapaksa Family

The “survey on Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in its history” begins by asking respondents if they were aware of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as the President in 2019. In reply, 77.61% know of it, whereas 22.39% are clueless.

Additionally, the survey asks respondents if they know that the Rajapaksa family has seized power in Sri Lanka for 17 years and that they have been pressured to resign due to recent Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Here, 78.39% are aware, leaving only 21.61% who are not.

Concerning current Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, the poll asks respondents to identify the primary reason for it. 45.59% think it is Sri Lanka’s participation in pro-China policy ventures, such as high-interest loans. Others (14.7%) blame it on economic mismanagement, while some (13.4%) attribute it to tourism profits, which increase debt and eventually cause the primary industry to fail.

Worst Consequences of Sri Lanka’s Economic State

Afterward, the survey asks what factors respondents believe exacerbated Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. 48.76% think ít is due to export revenues that remained low despite increased imports. Meanwhile, 22.95% believe it is due to a failure in financial policy, such as substantial tax cuts. Moreover, 14.94% suppose it is due to a failure to repay its foreign debt as what made Sri Lanka’s economic crisis worse.

The general public in Sri Lanka is suffering from the effects of the economic crisis, with 53.67% citing power outages as the worst. In addition, others acknowledge consequences of economic crisis in Sri Lanka, such as food and fuel shortages (16.85%), inflation at 30 percent (14.49%), and lack of medications (13.96%).

Will Sri Lanka Be Able to Pay Its Debt?

Due to a lack of foreign reserves and an inability to fulfill loan interest payments, the nation defaulted on a $51 billion debt in May 2022. As a result, the survey asks respondents how likely they believe Sri Lanka will be able to resolve the situation. In response, 39.88% say “highly likely.” Another 15.44% think it’s likely, while 12.78% say it’s unlikely. However, 23.52% remain neutral.

Finally, the survey on Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in its history seeks responses on where respondents believe Sri Lanka will seek assistance to resolve its problem. A majority of 48.11% voted for The International Monetary Fund (IMF). Whereas 13.05% suggested The World Bank, leaving 10.19% others who said India and 9.95% of others who said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) account for the remainder.