By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, December 3 -- The International Monetary Fund, after giving
Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa government money in July 2009 just after its
"Bloodbath on the Beach," has today belatedly acknowledged
that things did not work out as the government projected.
In
an IMF report embargoed until 4:30 am on the US' East Coast on
December 3, the IMF says of Sri Lanka that "revenue performance
has been weak thus far in 2013.
To some extent, low revenues reflect
the weaker imports, but the numerous tax exemptions and tax
administration weaknesses remain the important causes of
lower-than-expected revenues."
In
many places, this is called "corruption." But the IMF at
least at the staff or communications level has repeatedly resisted
criticizing Sri Lanka in any way. Inner City Press has periodically
posed Sri Lanka questions to the IMF's "Online Briefing Center"
during their bi-weekly briefings.
Spokespeople
Gerry Rice and William Murray have proceeded as if the questions
weren't posed, leaving a lower-ranked "IMF Spokesperson"
whose name can't be used to send boiler plate defenses of Sri Lanka's
performance. Recently leadership of the IMF's Asia Pacific unit
switched; could that be related to this less craven assessment?
Now,
IMF Directors see "remaining vulnerabilities, including the
recent rise in nonperforming loans, and risks from the increase in
external borrowing by banks and private entities on commercial terms.
Given Sri Lanka’s high level of debt and potential vulnerability to
external shocks, they emphasized that close monitoring is warranted."
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