How IMF stole Sri Lanka! debt expert explains!
Eric Toussaint Interview
2 April 2025 by Eric Toussaint , Balasingham Skanthakumar , Tharindu Uduwaragedera
In this interview, Eric Toussaint and Balasingham Skanthakumar explains the consequences of the IMF “bailout” of Sri Lanka and the impact of IMF conditionalities on the Sri Lankan economy. He highlights how these conditions often lead to austerity measures that disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations. Furthermore, Toussaint discusses the long-term implications for the country’s development and sovereignty as it navigates the challenges posed by international financial institutions.
is a historian and political scientist who completed his Ph.D. at the universities of Paris VIII and Liège, is the spokesperson of the CADTM International, and sits on the Scientific Council of ATTAC France.
He is the author of World Bank: A Critical History, London, Pluto, 2023, Greece 2015: there was an alternative. London: Resistance Books / IIRE / CADTM, 2020 , Debt System (Haymarket books, Chicago, 2019), Bankocracy (2015); The Life and Crimes of an Exemplary Man (2014); Glance in the Rear View Mirror. Neoliberal Ideology From its Origins to the Present, Haymarket books, Chicago, 2012, etc.
See his bibliography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Toussaint
He co-authored World debt figures 2015 with Pierre Gottiniaux, Daniel Munevar and Antonio Sanabria (2015); and with Damien Millet Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank: Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers, Monthly Review Books, New York, 2010. He was the scientific coordinator of the Greek Truth Commission on Public Debt from April 2015 to November 2015.
Other articles in English by Eric Toussaint (704)
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China–United States: asymmetrical rivalry from a historical and internationalist perspective
6 February, by Eric Toussaint , Cyn Huang
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Belgian Political Situation: Vote Analysis and Looking Forward
3 February, by Eric Toussaint
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Why are the European Commission and most European governments continuing to pursue austerity policies? Why are Belgian leaders expressing their support for the neo-fascist Trump?
29 January, by Eric Toussaint
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Trump, Europe and the international neo-fascist movement: from ideological support to political coordination
26 January, by Eric Toussaint
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International Call to Strengthen Antifascist and Anti-Imperialist Action
20 January, by Eric Toussaint , CADTM International , Collective , Walden Bello , Sushovan Dhar , Jeremy Corbyn , Yanis Varoufakis , Rafael Bernabe , Zoe Konstantopoulou , Jean-Luc Mélenchon , Gilbert Achcar , Tithi Bhattacharya , Nancy Fraser , Michael Roberts , Vijay Prashad , Achin Vanaik , Zarah Sultana , Manon Aubry , Annie Ernaux , Ada Colau , Bhaskar Sunkara
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Why Washington has made China its central strategic adversary?
19 January, by Eric Toussaint
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In memory of Patrice Lumumba, assassinated on 17 January 1961
17 January, by Eric Toussaint
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In Spain, tentative progress ignored by Belgian and European leaders
14 January, by Eric Toussaint
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The new doctrine of US international policy under Trump, or neo-fascism at the helm of the world’s leading military power
11 January, by Eric Toussaint
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Report on Europe in 2025
1 January, by Eric Toussaint
is a member of CADTM South Asia and works with the Social Scientists’ Association in Colombo.
Other articles in English by Balasingham Skanthakumar (19)
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The Great Flood
5 December 2025, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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Budget 2025: Playing A Bad Hand
31 March 2025, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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Sri Lanka’s People Have Kicked Out the Old Political Class
25 November 2024, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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Comrade President? Change and Continuity in Sri Lanka
29 September 2024, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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“No Fist Is Big Enough to Hide the Sky”: 100 Years of Amilcar Cabral
12 September 2024, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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Sri Lanka: The conjuncture in the crisis
10 July 2024, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
CADTM South Asia annual meeting
In Sri Lanka women are the principal victims of the IMF and of microfinance28 February 2024, by Balasingham Skanthakumar , Amali Wedagedara , Nalini Ratnarajah , Maxime Perriot , CADTM South Asia
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Budget 2024: ‘Deep Marketisation’ in Sri Lanka
19 December 2023, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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Bailing Out the Creditors
22 October 2023, by Balasingham Skanthakumar
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“Austerity driven economic reforms affect women more than men”
14 September 2023, by Balasingham Skanthakumar , Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky , Lakmali Hemachandra
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Europe: For a different economic policy in response to the far right and Trump’s offensive
5 November 2025 - Eric Toussaint, Antoine Larrache -
China and the IMF, supported by BRICS+, provided a lifeline to Javier Milei’s far-right government in Argentina
26 September 2025 - Eric Toussaint -
Lower-income country debt payments by creditor grouping
13 August 2025 - Debt Justice -
Sustainable development and unsustainable debt
30 June 2025 - Michael Roberts -
As the debt spiral speeds, half of Pakistan’s budget goes to loan repayment.
16 June 2025 - Abdul Khaliq
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People of Sri Lanka demand renegotiation of the IMF deal, debt, and climate justice in the face of the national disaster
10 December 2025 - Collective -
The Great Flood
5 December 2025 - Balasingham Skanthakumar -
FCEJ demands prioritizing marginalised communities in disaster preparedness, equitable relief and economic justice
4 December 2025 - Feminist Collective for Economic Justice -
Democracy & Debt: Reimagining Sovereignty in the Era of Global Financial Institutions
11 November 2025 - Eric Toussaint, Ikram Ben Said, Rob Davies, Shereen Talat, Jerome Phelps -
Are the New Development Bank and the BRICS Monetary Fund an alternative to the Bretton Woods institutions?
28 October 2025 - Eric Toussaint
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Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority Act: Where to Go Next After the Coconut Is in the Bag
6 February - Ishankha Singha Arachchi -
Cyclone Ditwah and Disaster Capitalism
19 December 2025 - Sushovan Dhar -
Cyclone Ditwah and Disaster Capitalism
15 December 2025 - Sushovan Dhar -
Then as farce, now as tragedy: The second coming of Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority
14 December 2025 - Amali Wedagedara, Suneth Aruna Kumara, Renuka Gunawardena -
People of Sri Lanka demand renegotiation of the IMF deal, debt, and climate justice in the face of the national disaster
10 December 2025 - Collective
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