Former Health Minister and SJB stalwart, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, told Parliament on Wednesday that the cost of living has led to more than 50% of middle-class people prematurely breaking their fixed deposits.

During a debate on a vote of no confidence against the incumbent Health Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, Dr. Senaratne criticized the state of the health sector under the current administration. He stated, “Our healthcare system is now overwhelmingly focused on prevention rather than treatment. In 2019, Sri Lanka had the lowest out-of-pocket spending on healthcare in Asia, thanks to our efforts in reducing medicine prices.”

“However, the situation has worsened significantly. Seven million people in the country now live below the poverty line, an increase of four million since 2019. Poverty has spread across all nine provinces, with 51% of those in the estate sector suffering. Nearly half of the population has reduced food consumption, while one-third has cut down on daily meals. Additionally, 27% of parents skip meals to provide for their children, and 6% of children, totaling over 236,000, have stopped attending school. Statistics reveal that 37% of people have sold their properties, and more than 50% of middle-class individuals have withdrawn their fixed deposits to meet their expenses.”

Dr. Senaratne also addressed rising medicine prices, stating, “Medicine prices have increased three times since then, partly due to uncontrollable fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate. The Sri Lanka Medical Association reports a 97% increase in medicine prices. During my tenure as Health Minister, we reduced medicine expenses from 14 billion rupees to four billion rupees through price reductions. Private pharmaceutical companies also reduced their profits by 10 billion rupees, although they were not operating at a loss.”