I went to get some milk today for my cereal. It was Rs. 155 for a liter of Ambewela (which I bought) and Rs. 165 for 250g of Rathi powdered milk. I mention this only because milk is the latest flash point in Sri Lanka’s ongoing consumer trauma. Just a few days ago, local farmers were so pissed at low profitability that they were pouring milk down the Hatton streets, even bathing in it. In response, the government has raised taxes on (imported) milk powder by 15%. The end result, however, is one more higher priced consumer good.

The kid got had fever and nausea and was in bad shape. Put him in hospital and thank god it wasn’t dengue, seemed more like bad sushi (his favorite, until now). We had to put him in hospital, but even with shitty insurance the bill was like Rs. 43,000. For a two night stay. This is obviously insane.

Some Indian census data is out, via The Hindu. It’s interesting. Indians are moving out of shared homes into nuclear families, but still shitting in the streets and fields. At the same time, most have electricity, banking facilities and phones. India’s not doing so bad, but the basics are persistently dire.

This is my Sunday column for the Nation. The new layout is actually nice, you can buy the physical and have some comparative advantage. Anyways. As follows: The economy is looking kinda bubbly. I’ve talked to people from the top to the middle and their basic complaint is that some people are making out like bandits while everybody else is getting robbed. That’s kinda definition of a bubble. It’s also a recipe for collapse.

The IPS, which I know mainly through Anushka Wijesinha, is holding a thing tomorrow on how Sri Lanka can create more jobs. Or even what that means. Everybody wants a job, to move out of the house, to fix the house, to expand it. Maybe get a motorbike, a van, a car. No matter how much infrastructure you build, if people don’t have jobs they can’t use it. So jobs are important.

Trishaw drivers being pissed off is not news. Connected businessmen pissed off, however, is. Lately I’ve been hearing the same thing from across the social spectrum, even from people working with the government. Mahinda’s catchers and cronies are messing stuff up and they can’t move. Be it daily bread or 10-year investments, the government has messed everything up, and people are pissed.

I recently heard that Mahinda runs the economy like a handiya kade (corner store). Honestly, the stores on my corner are better run. This would be like a handiya kade where roast paang costs 300 Rupees and the owner drives a Hummer. A few days ago the news was all crashing jets and bus strikes and a depreciating rupee and rising prices everywhere. I actually don’t understand what’s going on, but it is affecting me tangibly, and even more the people on the street.

Taxing imports is just taxing the poor, especially on food. Sri Lanka wants food independence, fine, but the cost for that political goal is more expensive food for everybody. Indonesia is one of the worst examples, propping up a few big rice farmers while everybody else pays through the nose. Now Prime Minister DM Jayaratne is calling for Sri Lanka to basically prohibit all fruit and wheat imports. It’s madness.

Sri Lanka today gets most of its foreign financing as loans from China. This graph shows that China has given 38% of financing this year, overtaking Japan (2012 FMR). Compare that to 2004, when they gave only 0.5% (2006 Annual Report).

Twitter was a good place to follow the budget speech, but this Reuters report is a gooder space to digest it. I suppose the full text of the budget speech is better. In short, we’re depreciating the Rupee to encourage exports and trying to encourage tourism. Spending is going towards the military, roads, and infrastructure.