heightened monetary instability coming from debt monetization. Sri Lanka has been named among the top 10 countries in the world in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Sri Lankan Government officially declared the worst economic crisis in the country in 73 years. Sri Lanka said most foreign debt repayments had been suspended from April 12, after two years of money printing to support tax cuts, ending an unblemished record of debt service. Economic history Early history Sri Lanka has a long history as a trading hub as a result of being located at the centre of east–west trade and irrigated agriculture in the hinterland, which is known from historical texts surviving within the island and from accounts of foreign travellers. The island has irrigation reservoirs called tanks built by ancient Kings starting after Indo-Aryan migration, many of which survive to this day. They form part of an irrigation system interlinked with more modern constructions. Faxian (also Fa Hsien) a Chinese Monk who travelled to India and Sri Lanka around 400 BC, writes of existing legends at his time of merchants from other countries trading with native tribal peoples in the island before Indo-Aryan settlement. "The country which originally had no human inhabitants but was occupied by spirits and nagas (serpent worshipers) with which merchants of various countries carried on a trade," Faxian wrote in 'A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms'. He writes of precious stones and pearl fisheries with a 30% tax by the king. The monk had embarked "in a large merchant vessel" from India to arrive in the island. To go back to China he "took passage in a large merchantman on board which were more than 200 men", ran into a storm where the merchants were forced to throw part of the cargo overboard and arrived at Java-dvipa (Indonesia), showing Sri Lanka had active coastal and long distance maritime trade links. Cosmas Indicopleustes (Indian Voyager), a merchant/monk from Alexandria of Egypt, who visited the Indian sub-continent in the 6th century, wrote in detail about Sri Lanka as a centre of commerce, referring to the island as Taprobane and Sieladiba. "The island being, as it is, in a central position, is much frequented by ships from all parts of India and from Persia and Ethiopia, and it likewise sends out many of its own," he wrote in Christian Topography. "And from the remotest countries, I mean