[The Admiral]
The Central Bank Governor announced inflation will hit 7%. A month ago he confidently said 5%. No explanation was offered. The number simply upgraded itself, like a smartphone app nobody asked to update, restarted the country and took away all the settings. Sri Lanka shrugged and moved on.
Anil Jayantha says the economy is stable, with the calm confidence of a man who has never stood in a queue at a government hospital. The President points to trillions in bank accounts, beaming like a man who discovered an old Fixed Deposit his grandfather forgot to mention. The Prime Minister, unbothered by the burden of numbers, reaches into her trusted vocabulary. Somehow, we will develop the country. Somehow. Anyhow. These magnificent words have served Sri Lankan politicians for generations and show no signs of retirement.
The IMF has been generous. USD 695 million in tranches has arrived, which is exciting news. The economy however did not receive that memo. The money attended some meetings, ticked the correct boxes, produced impressive reports and quietly had zero effect on the daily life of any ordinary Sri Lankan. A very well-documented exercise in nothing.
Meanwhile the government has calculated that a Sri Lankan can live beautifully on 17,000 rupees a month. Six hundred rupees a day. Please visit Pettah market. Price a kilo of dhal. Price a bus ride to Nugegoda. Price a bottle of coconut oil. Come back and explain 600 rupees with a straight face. Bring a chair. Nobody is in a hurry.
The opposition remains consistent. They are sleeping. Deeply and peacefully. The people can manage. The opposition has a nap to protect.
Sri Lanka is a merry-go-round. The IMF plays the music. The politicians are the horses, painted red, green and maroon, rising and falling with great confidence, certain they are galloping toward prosperity. The people ride those horses, cheering their favourite colour, arguing which horse is superior, while the scenery remains identical to four years ago.
The music will stop. The horses will collapse. The carnival will be over.
Sri Lankans are struggling.
Somehow is not a development plan. The horses were never going anywhere.