Webinar on achieving debt sustainability and safeguarding social wellbeing

The Research Intelligence Unit (RIUNIT) is hosting the webinar entitled ‘lessons from Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt crisis’ on 22 February, which aims to draw international lessons from the current economic crises.

An extremely high-powered panel includes Attorney-at-law and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka Ali Sabry, former Minister of Finance Greece Yanis Varoufakis, former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Indrajith Coomaraswamy and Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts Jayati Ghosh. 

The webinar will be moderated by RIUNIT Founder and CEO Roshan Madawela, where RIUNIT former British Diplomat and Senior Advisor Sir Peter Heap, will be the guest of honour.  The vote of thanks will be delivered by Heidi Chow, Director of Debt Justice, London. 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, surging import prices, rising interest rates globally and years of economic mismanagement in the case of Sri Lanka, many emerging markets are now in default mode or on the brink of a sovereign debt default, or requiring an IMF bailout. 

This webinar is expected to generate some very innovative and practical lessons that may prove invaluable for other nations facing similar challenges as well as helping Sri Lanka develop an original and effective roadmap for recovery with a people-centric approach.   RIUNITs CEO Roshan Madawela said that this webinar will certainly differ from the parley that has already been witnessed with regards to discussing the turn of events and the way forward.  This webinar promises to address the fundamental causes of the economic crises and will attempt to generate recommendations aimed at alleviating the harsh realities faced by the people in Sri Lanka and other developing economies facing a similar situation.  

Moreover, the impact on the people, particularly lower income earners, is rarely addressed and often glossed over.  By contrast the panellists featured in the RIUNIT Webinar are known the world over for their independent views and will be grappling directly with these challenges faced by people who are at the receiving end of global and local economic mismanagement.

The RIUNIT was originally established on the basis of addressing a need to overcome strategic weaknesses and vision constraints that have cowed growth in developing countries, local governments and other institutions around the globe. Maintaining a strong focus from the onset, the organisation has been on a steady growth path, building resources and extending networks to cover the private and governmental sectors in both developed and developing economies.  

The Research Intelligence Unit (RIUNIT) is a British company with its Asia head office based in Colombo since 2003.  Macroeconomic policy is one of the RIUNIT’s areas of specialisation.  In addition to Sri Lanka, the company has a presence in London, Dhaka, Maldives and several other developing and emerging economies.  

The webinar is free for the public and those interested can register at https://riunit.com/webinar-registration/