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High interest borrowings and 14 tax concessions that robbed country of revenue culminated in economic crisis

Published

3 years ago

2023/07/5

General Secretary of the Communist Party Dr. G. Weerasinghe and researcher Shiran Illanperuma with the policy programme.

– CP General Secretary

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Sri Lankan governments, since 1977, had given 14 tax concessions during 42 years, and they had led to a decrease in state revenue and culminated in the 2022 economic crisis, Dr. G. Weerasinghe, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) said in Maharagama on MOnday.

Speaking at an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the CPSL and the launch of their manifesto, Idirimagin Idiriyata, Dr. Weerasinghe said that the state had lost non-tax revenue due to the privatisation of public ventures in the 1980s and 1990s.

“Almost all governments, since 1977, have followed policies that were inimical to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. We moved to low paying and low-productivity service jobs. It is a well-known fact that all nations that joined the developed nations club in the last 60 years focused on labour intensive manufacturing and boosting agricultural productivity. This is the history of development, but we have decided to ignore it since 1977,” he said.

Dr. Weerasinghe said that the institutions set up to ensure adherence to the Washington Consensus, i.e. World Bank and the IMF dictates, had encouraged deindustrialization in Sri Lanka.

“In fact, a 2003 agreement we signed with the IMF says that the Sri Lankan government will not take steps to develop industrialization,” he said.

The CPSL General Secretary said that as the state had lost both tax and non-tax revenue, it was compelled to borrow, especially from the International Sovereign Bond (ISB) markets.

“We started borrowing from these markets in 2007. Up until 2015, we borrowed about 30 percent of our total debt from ISBs. Between 2015 and 2019, we borrowed over 13 billion US dollars from these markets. These bonds are held by companies based in the US and the EU. They are literally poli mudalalis (loan sharks). Borrowing from these markets has ruined us. However, there is a big campaign by the west and its local allies to place the blame on China,” he said.

The new CPSL manifesto presented an alternative model for development based on science and industrialisation, Dr. Weerasinghe said.

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Related Topics:Featured General Secretary of the Communist Party Dr. G. Weerasinghe researcher Shiran Illanperuma

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Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis

Published

4 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

There are 17 nursing schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media including the postgraduate primary nursing school.

There are 142 vacancies in the posts of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education) as on 31.03.2026 in those schools while 24 officers are to be promoted to the special grade on 31.12.2025 owing to the vacancies existing in the post of Special
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In addition, there are 24 vacancies in the post of Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education).

Although at present action has been taken to upgrade the nursing schools to nursing colleges and upgrade the nursing diploma course to nursing degree course, no action has been taken so far to carry out recruitment for the training relevant to the appointment for the post of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education).

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to recruit retired nursing instructors and nursing instructors who served in the nursing schools belonging to the three armed forces and are retired or have resigned legitimately from service to the post of Grade I / Special Grade Nursing Officer (Education) on contract basis.

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Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka

Published

4 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
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The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.

According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.

The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.

News

The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea

Published

4 hours ago

2026/09/1

Priyan

Approval has been granted at the cabinet meeting held on 11-12-2023 to sign an agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Government of Sri Lanka regarding mutual cooperation
in criminal matters.

However, according to the aforementioned approval, the relevant agreement could not be signed between both parties.

Through this agreement, opportunities will be provided
for mutual assistance to other countries in handing over judicial documents and collecting evidence for the use of criminal case matters.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution provided by the Minister of Justice and National Integration to sign an agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Government of Sri Lanka to cooperate in criminal matters.