Laos is in serious economic trouble.
The developing South-East Asian country borrowed big — mainly from China through the Belt and Road Initiative — to fund an ambitious infrastructure program.
With the goal of becoming the region’s “battery”, it built about 80 hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries.
But the revenue from the infrastructure is yet to flow through and the debt repayments are mounting up.
Laos’ total government-guaranteed domestic and international debt reached $US13.8 billion, or 108 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, last year.
About half the $US10.5 billion owed to other countries is owed to China — though the details of the loans have remained opaque.
It begs the question, could Laos…
