FinObservatory

Crisis atlas / LKA / 1989–1996

Sri Lanka, 1989–1996

One crisis episode: distinct crisis years merged across gaps of up to two non-crisis years. Types, source agreement, and macro context are drawn from the union of five primary chronologies.

BankingCurrencySovereign debt

Crisis years in this episode

Every distinct (year, type) event inside the 1989–1996 window, with the chronologies flagging it and the count of agreeing sources. Start-year sources (GMD, JST) mark only the first year, so agreement falls in the continuation years.

  1. 1989
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
  2. 1990
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
  3. 1991
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
  4. 1992
    Bankingrr1 source
  5. 1993
    Bankingrr1 source
  6. 1996
    Sovereign debtrr1 source

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Laeven-Valencia banking-crisis detail

Episode-level fiscal cost and output loss from the systemic banking crises database. Fiscal cost is the gross outlay of banking-sector rescues; output loss is the cumulative deviation of real GDP from its pre-crisis trend, both as a percent of GDP.

Banking episode 1989–1991
5.0%
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
19.6%
Output loss, % of GDP
1991
Episode end year

Source: Laeven & Valencia (2026), IMF WP/26/94, Systemic Banking Crises Database 1970-2025 Methodology

Macro context, 19822003

Seven years either side of the episode. Each panel has its own scale; the crisis window is shaded. Only indicators with data for Sri Lanka in this window are shown. Bank credit growth (year over year in total loans) is available for the 18 Jordà-Schularick-Taylor advanced economies.

Inflation (% y/y)
0102030198219892003
Real GDP growth (% y/y)
-50510198219892003
Policy rate (%)
01020198219892003
Govt debt (% of GDP)
050100198219892003
Unemployment (%)
01020198219892003
Current account (% of GDP)
-15-10-505198219892003

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 (credit) Real GDP growth is derived as the year-over-year change in real GDP; current account and government debt are percent of GDP; policy rate is the central-bank rate; bank credit growth is the year-over-year change in JST total loans. Methodology

How each source dates this episode

The chronologies disagree on start years and durations. This table is generated from the event rows, not curated: it lists, per crisis type, which source flags which years inside the window.

Banking
  • Global Macro Database1989
  • Laeven-Valencia1989, 1990, 1991
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Currency
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1989
Sovereign debt
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1996

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Documented policy responses

1 intervention from the Metrick-Schmelzing banking-crisis database whose recorded year falls inside this episode window (1989–1996). Each row is one documented government or central-bank action, tagged with the database’s own intervention categories and short code, under the crisis code it assigns. Matching is exact: same country, intervention year inside the window. The database’s global-crisis rows (no country) are never matched here.

LKA-1992Sao Tome and Principe
  1. 1992No interventionNO/I

Source: Metrick-Schmelzing Banking-Crisis Interventions Database (Yale Program on Financial Stability) Cite as: Metrick, Andrew, and Paul Schmelzing, "Banking-Crisis Interventions Across Time and Space," working paper, 2024 (dataset consulted 2026-07-10). License: Creative Commons attribution. Methodology

Policy-response case studies (external)

For qualitative accounts of how authorities intervened in systemic crises, see the Yale Program on Financial Stability New Bagehot Project, a library of financial-crisis intervention case studies. It is a separate qualitative resource; no specific case is asserted to match this episode.