The tiny island nation of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean released a statement Tuesday that said it would default on its foreign debt, including bonds and government-to-government borrowings, amid its worst economic crisis in over seven decades. Sri Lanka’s finance ministry said it “has had an unblemished record of external debt service since independence in 1948.” A confluence of factors has drained the South Asian island nation’s foreign exchange reserves by more than 70% since the virus pandemic began, including the collapse in tourism and poorly timed tax cuts. “Recent events, however, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic...