so that's quite substantial. however, we're not exactly sure how this money was spent, because the budget lines where the biggest increase in place are classified, of course because of the timing in because of because of the context. it's very reasonable to assume that this is related to operational costs because that to place it up to the war. ah, said this is, these are the top stories and us secretary of state antony blanket has promised ukraine forces continued support from the white house. he met the crating president and keep on sunday, along with us defense secretary lloyd austin, both men praise ukraine's efforts to defend itself and said it would ultimately prevail over russia. u. s. is also announced that it's resuming its diplomatic presence in ukraine. my kind of in washington has more all of these factors together, very important in terms of the us presence in ukraine saying as well that it's

sending diplomats back in the coming week. those diplomats having been brought out to the beginning of the war and also significantly the u. s. is going to resume training of ukrainian military on what it says are disposed weapon systems. so all of these factors together show an uptick in the buys and administration's involvement in that will when you grade russia, president vladimir putin, his claim moscow's enemies, are trying to cause unrest in the country in a bit to limit its territorial gains in ukraine, peach, and said it's not working out of school, which crises, great options to have a task coming forward to break russia from within. but they can't do it because our society is showing unity and support our forces and our efforts to maintain the security of russia and the citizens have done bass. a russian media outlets are reporting a series of blasts in moldova as a breakaway region of trans. mr. there explosions were portly, happened at the ministry of state security in the city of terrible. so far there

have been no reports of casualties. a turkish court has sentence businessmen as osmond corvana to life in prison. kabbalah had been on trial on charges related to anti government protest in 2013. he was found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government for president manuel my car has been reelected. the defeated far right challenge a marine, la pen. micron has acknowledged both his dissatisfaction with his 1st him. the pen says she's in a good position for upcoming parliamentary relations. must testing for over 19 and begun in beijing largest district. a china is trying to track an outbreak that may have been spreading in the capital for a week. the 1st verdict in one of several trials may miles, as opposed civilian leader has been delayed since he was arrested by the army. when it sees power a year ago, notes directly lines more news coming up here and out 0. also, we go to country the cost. ah,

i flew, i'm fully back to bo, this is counting the cost on al jazeera, your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week is to lancaster, worst economic crisis in decades and is to pushing people to the brink. so what's gone wrong for the islands nation, and can it secure the cash it needs to buy basic supplies. also this week, china's g d p growth for the 1st quarter beats forecast. but the countries way down

by lockdown, so can be gene keep the economy growing or will the wells manufacturer a grind to a halt and as fuel prices rise, electric comic as i an increase in sales. but his demand for the vehicles really increasing among drivers, and if so is there enough to supply them? ah, thank you very much for joining us. she lank as coffers have old but dried up and it cannot afford to pay for imports. millions of its people are bearing the brunt of the country's economic crisis. basic goods are in short supply power cuts. a frequent price is a soaring, and the value of incomes is eroding. many people blame the president for the worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. and they've taken to the streets demanding, he stepped down. go to buy roger. pac sir has admitted making mistakes and promises he will correct them. now roger, pac sir has appointed a new cabinet by the opposition, has threatened to bring it down. part of the country's economic crisis is caused by

a lack of foreign currency. shank is finance minister, has started talks with the international monetary fund, seeking a rapid financing instrument or r f i. the island nation has also turned to india and china for debt relief, but both countries have offered more credit lines to buy commodities. sri lanka has suspended payment on its international debt of more than $51000000000.00 effectively putting the country. in default, the island nations foreign reserve stood at less than $2000000000.00 at the end of march, while the countries for in debt obligations for this year exceed $7000000000.00. sa exchange was also suspended for 5 days last week. now, should anchors inflation rate climb to almost 19 percent last month up from more than 15 percent in february. it's highest level since october 2008, and the fastest raised in asia. here's an idea of how much basic necessities now

cost white rise. a common sri lankan staple increased by 93 percent since 2019 chicken and lentils have gone up by at least 55 and 100. 17 percent, respectively. the state own sale on petroleum corporation raise the price of fuel by more than 130 percent last week. and a standard household cylinder of cooking gas increase from almost $5.00 in 2021 last year to 9 dollars this year. and the country's droopy has plans to record lowes becoming the world's worst performing currency. the government has the value that will be place curbs on non essential imports and almost doubled interest rates in a bit to tackle the economic crisis shrunk as economy has lost much of its tourism revenues because of the pandemic and remittances dried up. but critics say government decisions to cut taxes and shift to organic farming are among the main reasons behind the crisis. or joining us now from shall i guess capital colombo is,

will mission where i'm with dolly, who's an economics lecturer at the university of colombo. thank you. so much for being with us on counting the costs. this is by far the worst crisis to lank as face in independence in 1948. how do we get to this point? what went wrong? well, to start with this phone made a cds or bad trades that starting from x in the elected to the his, in 2019. and subsequently the core, we've been to me, he did a lot better than adverse impact on how we would the decisions that the government made subsequent to defend me, particularly to, to hold that will be following up exchange a pigeon, particularly the decision not to restructure date. and when i admit that is what has actually led to this crisis because been me when we intend to doesn't 21. it was quite clear that there was no way sheila guys going to continue with the whole

industry payments because the con case for in the so as a law and we law, significant amount of revenue to worrisome because of depend to make impact. and on the other hand, we didn't have the ability to go to the international capital markets and borrow money issuing euro bonds was hovering. but that is because would append to me can be less likely to text, but right. so you did, you didn't have the luxury or refinance again. the, the ideal option was the, the fee structure and the government decision to not to take that option was what caused this whole crisis to the prison mind? a roger plank for has admitted making mistakes. is it just download to his policy decisions that have made sure lank as economy so so vulnerable to these chunks or the other factors that play the will the economy worse while? well, because sheila cause export hasn't gone from your last couple of decades or more. and at the same time the tax revenue was very, very low,

probably one of the lowest among the world. so when you are in such a position, you had to be very cautious when you make your policy and they were not cautious, particularly when you have a very low text and you read doesn't make sense to give tax cuts. right? but dave, in to he then gave it as an election promise, and soon after they left the good the public even to the text, which was absolutely necessary for a country that has made it excellent. so it and also their decision to strictly, you know, not going to, i mean, because they were insisting that they are not going to him if you're not seeking him. if, as he says and debated the last moment, people are dying or short ages to make that decision. so it was the wrong policies that pursued, ignoring the economist advice that has led to these shortages and the daily suffering of the experience today. what the government has now officially requested, you know, the i m f help, which you know has been criticized because as yourself, many people have said, it's taken too long for them to go to the i m f. they've requested an r f i,

which is usually granted to countries with urgent funding needs because of a shop commodity price rise. for example, national disasters. we will be get this and will be i'm f bailout work this time around. let's talk about the bailout in into parts lately. the odd if i wanted to make sure that be fine as instrument, then you will have something might be called the extended fun facility, which is the normal beta package that you may be treated in 2016. but for, for the finance the into my to be received, sheila cost debt has to be discussed in a level which is not the recent stock the board made. i mean clearly stipulates that pre lung class need these on sustainable. and unless the government easing the art me that it's a stain of both, i miss you may not be in a position to give, provide, lending at this point so. so it's a bit of

a tricky situation. it's quite difficult at this point to get an eye on it because the level of the, the fuzzy has. but we'll have to see what, what is the actions that you would like to look at this point. and if that policy action is to get an idea of what about china and india, they have offered credit lines. does that offer a lifeline or will it mean more debt? for sure long? well, i mean, definitely going to be more dead because that's the only way out of this will have to borrow what you need to be cautious. this at this point you will have to borrow but, but you have to borrow for sure. lease, or that you don't overburden that and also to get to more of a transition the foremost that you know, the date that you have to pay across large long number of years and we've been loyal to state because we can't really take the burden of a commercial anymore at this point in right now. and also we dictated. nice, very nice my tell in the short term, particularly in terms of was

a play which you might be running on these days. the poor credit line provided by india as another credit man coming from india or maybe seen essentially, would then intermediate good chinese embassy in a press conference few weeks ago. mentioned that they are also willing to provide a credit line and another loan. so someone would that be received to the credit nice but, but that's how quickly that those things comes is so important. must equal x reaching play notes. ok. now, speaking of, of the debt the, the moody's ratings agency has one that's your lanka, will see a series of defaults on it. foreign debts after the government said it would stop re payments. of course. what are the implications of bad? what would that mean for sure? lanka, and this is people the vein which we de paul did did was not the worst case. the reason being in imperial, a pre, to be made an announcement called what we call the unit i tried before door informing all the credit is that we are not able to be routed and dropped

disorderly before. so that's one good thing. so which means the tailor could just that, look here, the billing to restart the data points, it may have negotiations. so 2 things wouldn't be bad at disorderly before. and so that's one good thing that was done but, but that was to the question was that it was truly through too late. saw the stall depends on how quickly the restructuring process goes. that has to go along with dynamic sions. smith saw the sequence of feet, i wouldn't say would be severe. ok, it wouldn't be bad. s and the disorderly before. and i don't think that the imports below kicked due to the default. but the inputs, how old are the affected? because that is, those are ignored. so that's the key concern. grab this, no, fine for the injury. so strong tom bell. 20 need to get the lines to ensure that the basic layer who made the scene, oil and etc, i was going to ask you about the fact that the choices the bed best options now for

sure, lank as government of a waste for the government to improve the countries fiscal position while also protecting those who might face poverty as a result of policies that, that might lean towards or charity. there has to be a co bus or show safety net program, giving cash transfers to those who are particularly affected by the high food prices and shortages and make it a priority along the way to good. otherwise, d, c forms will not be politically easy, but been because nice people come through that. all it's and start writing interest plus of the. so today requires at the, at the medication strategy to communicate with the vulnerable groups that this is what we're doing. and so we are going to protect you and to do the need to protect them. thank you so much for talking to us about this and shedding light on the situation and shall i. that will mess around with ali lecture in economics at the university of colombo. thank you very much for your time. pleasure. wish it would be here. thank you. ah. china's economy has beaten

all expectations for the 1st 3 months of the year. gross domestic product screwed by 4.8 percent compared to a year earlier. but consumer spending fell and unemployment rows suggesting tougher months ahead. that says the country is expected to feel the full blown impact of crone of iris lockdown. then the war in ukraine. many economies say beijing growth target of around 5.5 percent for 2022 appears to be out of reach. katrina, you report somebody. jane. china's economy beat most expert forecasts and expanded by 4.8 percent in the 1st 3 months of 2022 strong manufacturing activity and a boost in infrastructure. spending early in the year drove much of that growth. but major challenges threatened the outlook of the world's 2nd largest economy, should you should. the global situation has been complex on the fluid. domestic,

we're covering 19 continues to have impact. that's why some major indicators were slowed down and there's a pressure i calamity performance. other china is battling, it's worse corin of iris outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic. and tens of millions of people nationwide has been confined to their homes, look downs and purse much across major industrial and commercial hubs. including shanghai and sion, gen have crippled supply chains and assembly lines. analysts say the damage caused by shutdowns will be further felt in future economic data. but retail spending has already contracted by 3.5 percent. unemployment has also risen. foreign business leaders say badging 0 tolerance approach to corporate 19 is harming both the domestic and global economy. the western and japan, korea, all the big economies have strong interest. the china changes to one because it said percent of all goods and china manufacture could have some sort of china in

there. so of china actually sneezer, you know, the world catches a cold. we need chart to succeed. we need china to open up in order to actually maintain also good the global economy at a certain speech speech and a global economy needs china now to succeed because we have a war in ukraine which as a rebel on effect. and this is like a perfect storm coming altogether. unfortunately, rising inflation and a cash crunch in the property sector are also dragging on growth. the government has set a g d p target of around 5.5 percent this year. it's the lowest in decades, but many believe this figure will be tough to achieve without the rolling out of more aggressive stimulus measures. still, china's leaders insist on maintaining the most heavy handed pandemic measures in the world. the cities of she and pseudo, and john jo have joined shanghai in imposing restrictions, followed local outbreaks over the weekend. on joining us now is robin monday high

professor of asian, initially at the i. e. s. e business call, and president of the asian studies association of hong kong. thank you very much, miss them on behalf of being with us on counting the costs. let's start with the good news. a positive news. first, the chinese economy making a solid start at to the year. what are the main factors driving this growth? well, as you know, they are still benefiting from their success of the, the wound experience. so well the world was starting to cromwell down. they actually were actually, china was recovering, so they continued being the world. so factory. so they were exporting and they were making the goods that the world demanded. so this is a result of that but, but the 1st quarter a g d p does not tell the whole story, does it? i mean, what's the reality of the situation right now on the ground?

ok, they said 515 percent is the target. so the whole year are personally i've, i'm doubtful about that. it depends on several things. i would, i would mention 3 things. the 1st one is the revival of the domestic consumption. ah, in, within china. the 2nd one is the resumption of international trade, which was disrupted by the a ukraine ukraine war sauce imports of china has gone down. and also, you know, the china imports an array of goods which are later are re exported. so both are done because the ports have also begun to be close flights of also been reduced. so oh, and contributes to down flow of international 3. and the 3rd one is the supply and demand factors. first of all is the your grain war. second is the prizes of

commodities driven by the, by the war. so you have all called natural gas and other commodities. food also, 3rd is inflation and china's weight. it is different from other countries. it works and then production capacity is down because of the lack dollars and armors factories are kind of still down. right? well, let's talk about those locked down since the beginning of march. china has struggled to, to contain it's worth over 19, not breaks in the start of the pandemic. as you yourself said, when the world was dealing with china was actually doing much better than most countries. but now it's in the grapes of this crisis. we've seen important ports like shanghai shut down. how does the government make economic stability at top priority, while also maintaining the 0 covered 19 policy strategies?

one solution to china always had was to use infrastructure investment. what if, if things are down, they will double down and on, on making more infrastructure. that's to preserve employment, to keep the economy going because externals will be difficult. so they will use internal tools in order to, to keep the economy going. but you know, that's not very easy to do because there are other, other issues that they have to contend with. for example, the aging of the population, the factor in the lying down attitude of the population. the positive side is innovation and technology improvement goes up. but those are the things that they have to, you know, make sure that they interact property. so the economy is able to, to briefly missed that monday. let me ask you about that. the global impact on this,

you know, especially for those countries who rely on chinese production and on demand for chinese investment. how, how difficult do you see the situation being for them in the coming months? so me, i consider this a very difficult issue because they have a play playbook rule to follow because i was a, this year is special for china. they have this, they have this special meeting in which president c is expected to have another another term, another 5 year term. so that cannot be disturbed. so in, in the past the, once these things happen. so it's, it's very difficult to move because as we have seen already in the past beginning, the one crisis, the, there's a china way of doing things. and that's why in the 1st stage of the one crisis, it was like disaster. but they quickly changed. but that change has to be decided

by the top. ok, so, and that is the problem here. thank you so much for your time. thank you for talking to us for been one day hi. with petrol prices storing the preferences of ca, shop is our shifting drive is increasingly choosing cars that plug into sockets over those that burn fossil fuels. global sales of electric vehicles are estimated to have jumped nearly a 120 percent in the 1st quarter of the year. despite the high cost of the vehicles and batteries. the average cost of lithium ion battery sales increased to at least $160.00 per kilowatt hour in the 1st quarter of this year. as compared to 105 dollars last year. the high battery cost added almost $1500.00 for the best selling electric vehicle in china, for example, supply chain disruption vend sanctions on russian. metals are among the main factors, driving up cost and a market share of electric vehicles around the world increased $41.00 times in the last 10 years,

reaching 8.3 percent and sales broke records globally last year. global e v purchases reached more than $6000000.00 units in 202108 percent more than the previous year. 130000 electric vehicles were sold throughout the year in 2012. that figure was reached in a week in 2021. china recorded the high sales at 3400000 . 2.3000000 electric vehicles were sold in europe. this figure was by 66 percent compared to 2020. the us rank deferred with 735000 electric vehicle sales. well, joining us now from london is casper rose, who's a chief date, the officer at benchmark mineral intelligence and agency specialize in electric vehicles and battery supply chain casper. thank you so much for being with us on counting the cost. so what is driving this demand for electric vehicles? our environmental concerns, motivating buys always. it more about gas prices is

a combination of factors driving driving electric vehicles, amount of the moment in some regions. it's, it's subsidies, so you're saying some quite generous subsidies available and electric vehicles, particularly in china and in europe in the kind of policy world as well as some big drivers. so again, in europe, those fleet emission standards that need to be met by over time make is across the whole fleet. so one way to achieve it to move to more and more electric baker sales and then just kind of longer term as a consumer looking at the planning to end internal combustion engine. victo sales, very different dates globally, but between 2030 and let's say 2050 generally speaking, people thinking now more and more about electric vehicles. and i guess just finally kind of a consumer preference to move to more and more environmentally friendly technology . as speaking of the longer term, let's talk about the cost, the price of these vehicles because there's been

a continuous search in prices right? for electric vehicles. costs rose because, you know, of supply chain disruptions. the sanctions on russia, for example. do you expect this rise to be temporary, or will battery costs, for example, stay elevated? or are we going to see at some point, some sort of stablish ation. you know, the major component that's driving the rising cost. the battery is, is leaky mind battery critical role material. so the cathode, which is captured in a battery cafe representative of the cost of the battery the moment. and that's what you find the lithium, the nickels manganese, and those pray. price is very high. as you know, high prices willing been incentivized, more investment in production of federal material, everything cash flowing, opperation, new nickel, opperation, etc. but it takes a long time for that to come to market, take many years and you might to be billed and typically say around 7 year. so we will say those investments that are happening now and,

and commence last year coming to play in the coming year. and that will, that will balance costs. now, the ultimate cost of the b, i guess, is really what matters in the compensation today. and they still economy discounts to be made in terms of the vehicle production level of the production level. but we do expect these material markets to go in and out and deficit over the next decade . so for right now, the main problem is lithium and lithium deficit. and the very tight, and that's why we see price for him. benchmark publishes very different grades, but the price is on a global basis. the average is about 465 percent year one year. and since the start and then recover, recovery is closer to 800 percent and i was gonna ask you how manufacturers are getting around the supply chain disruptions? i mean, it's very challenging at the moment. i mean, we have the earnings, korea from tesla who specifically, you know, mosque and the theme specifically mentioned, lithium is a major concern and could be a limiting factor in the right of which if you,

my batteries can be produced and they are exposed to cost at the moment so by that what i mean is that no hedging mechanism, like you would having something like other large commodity markets. these are speciality chemicals. lithium in particular is no a commodity. you can't just use any kind of him in your process. you have to qualify that product, so it's very, very challenging. so at the moment what we're seeing is largely speaking, those additional material costs are being added to the vehicle in some way or margin to being casserole. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you. very much, and that is our show for this week, get in touch with us by tweeting me add fully by a j e and do use the hashtag a j c t c. when they do or drop us an email, counting the cost that al jazeera dot net is our address. but there is more for you online on al jazeera dot com slash ctc that will take you straight to our page, which has individual reports, link setting, tie episodes for you to catch up on that is it for this edition of counting the

cost? i am fully battle from me and the whole team here in doha. thanks for watching. the news on al jazeera is next. ah ah frank assessment, what are the political risks of banning rushmore? the gas for western leaders will sanctions on russian energy exports. that's from recipe for recession in depth analysis of the days headlines inside story on al jazeera, wet temperatures reach, minus 35 degrees celsius and mounted roads become barely possible.

one small me, the bus serves as a lifeline for community facing environmental and cultural change. ah, i'll to say we're well joined. the regulars on board techies in kind of us are now to sierra ah, when it comes to russia's warnings. russia is failing. ukraine is succeeding. the u . s. pledge is more military, a to ukraine during the highest level american visit to keep since the war with russia began. ah, hello, the club, this is out 0 life. and there are also coming up. russia's president accuses the west of aggression and says it's failing to divide it. russian society found guilty of trying to overthrow the government sac vessels in.