News
Cash-strapped SLPP can’t afford Rs 229 bn package, says SJB
Top Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) spokesperson and economic guru Dr. Harsha de Silva said yesterday the cash-strapped government couldn’t afford to provide a Rs 229 bn relief package at the moment. In response to The Island queries, Dr. de Silva has sent us the following statement: “The government is losing control of the economy. At this rate we will be a free fall fairly soon. Looks like they are hallucinating. The solution offered has absolutely no relevance to the problem we are facing. We are in a Balance of Payments crisis. We have no dollars. That’s the problem. Fixing it with a swap here and a credit line there is nothing but plaster solutions. We need real reform. I doubt anyone but ourselves can help us now. It’s too late.
But instead of addressing that, other than to say in the Cabinet Paper that the country can absorb an adjustment of the LKR to market rates (which they estimate at Rs 230 to the USD) on a completely flawed logic and therefore it must be artificially held at 200 and VAT cannot be adjusted (to what it was), they have introduced this relief package.
Well, the people are feeling the high cost of living. Official Inflation is double digit after 13 years and food inflation is 22%. Unofficially it’s almost double that. So, yes people need help. Mind you this was created by this government. Two major wrong deductions. One, unprecedented and unnecessary tax cuts in Dec 2019. Two, a totally destructive ban of fertilizer. These had nothing to do with the pandemic. Yea the pandemic has an impact but these two decisions are what brought us to this almost bankrupt situation.
Anyway, since no supplementary estimates can now be brought to Parliament (passed by 2/3 this budget) and he says no taxes will be increased the question is where is the LKR 229b going to come from? Unless they cut capital expenditure, where will they find the money? But it is almost guaranteed they will not do so, including the LKR 100b to be dished out to local government members to prepare for LG elections. So ultimately the Central Bank will end up printing all this money.
We now are the lucky recipients of the fabulous outcomes of two years of money printing Modern Monetary Theory experiment. This round of printing will only exacerbate the problem by starting a wage-price inflation spiral. Almost text book style, if anyone in their government wishes to consult a basic Economics text.
We are heading for disaster.”
The National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC), which is being established under the Presidential Secretariat with the aim of removing administrative and regulatory barriers that exist among government institutions in relation to investment and industry and expediting these processes, will be opened tomorrow (22).
The centre is being established on the President’s initiative with the aim of bringing about a positive transformation in the industrial sector. The centre will provide solutions to issues that arise in dealing with the government machinery when starting and operating a business, while also coordinating with the relevant government institutions to provide the necessary facilities.
The “ViYASA” National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC) has been established at Building C-80, Hector Kobbekaduwa Mawatha, Colombo 07, and is headed by Senior Additional( Secretary to the President, Seevali Arukgoda.
The centre will be opened under the patronage of Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando and Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti, with the participation of Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
The website https://nbfc.presidentsoffice.gov.lk is also scheduled to be officially launched on the occasion.
President’s Media Division)
Latest News
Court of Appeal Judge M. Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea appointed as Acting President of the Court of Appeal
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Court of Appeal Judge Mayadunna Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.
The appointment has been made as President’s Counsel Nalin Rohantha Abeysuriya, who currently serves as President of the Court of Appeal, will be overseas until the 24th.
Accordingly Judge Mayadunna Corea was sworn in as Acting President of the Court of Appeal before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential secretariat this morning (21).
Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.
(President’s Media Division)
Latest News
President instructs expediting further measures concerning Sivarasa Anojan, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
A discussion to review the further measures that could be taken regarding Sivarasa Anojan, a young Sri Lankan national who has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, was held at the Presidential Secretariat this afternoon (21), under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The discussion focused on the measures taken to date concerning Sivaraasa Anojan and the further diplomatic and legal steps that could be pursued. Attention was also given to expediting the necessary further measures that could be taken to secure his release.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake instructed officials to continue the necessary diplomatic engagement with the relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia and to maintain close and continuous involvement in all further measures concerning the case.
Reaffirming the Government’s continued attention to the safety and welfare of Sri Lankans living and working overseas, the President also stressed the need for the relevant ministries and institutions to work in close coordination and pursue all possible measures that could be taken in connection with the case.
Deputy Speaker Rizvie Salih, Deputy Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs Muneer Mulaffer, Governor of the Western Province Hanif Yusoof, Secretary – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Aruni Ranaraja, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism were also present at the discussion.
(President’s Media Division)
“ViYASA” National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC) to be opened tomorrow (22)
Court of Appeal Judge M. Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea appointed as Acting President of the Court of Appeal
President instructs expediting further measures concerning Sivarasa Anojan, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
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Trophy row unlikely to repeat in Japan
Powerful explosions at Syrian army site near Aleppo injure at least four
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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