SJB wants April to Aug.‘unauthorised’ expenditure rectified

By Saman Indrajith

SJB Colombo District MP Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday (28) that the government‘s expenditure from April to August without a warrant from the House should be corrected so that such expenditure would not create a precedent.

Participating in the debate on Vote on Account, MP de Silva said: “We have a problem as to how these funds during the said period of time were allotted and spent without the authorisation of the House. The election was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, there were some legal issues concerning obtaining the funds, however, practically the government, we understand, had to obtain funds to fulfill the needs of people. We never questioned it.  Now that we have brought the pandemic situation under control, we need to legitimise these expenses. If we make it reasonable, it shall not be a precedent for a future President. We don’t know what kind of Presidents shall be elected in the future.”

MP de Silva criticised the government for obtaining more than a trillion rupees as loans within a short period of six months upon its election. In addition, he said that the Vote on Account and some more outside funding had been requested and that would increase the country’s debt stock.

 MP de Silva requested the government to be vigilant when obtaining repo loans against the Treasury bills and bonds in the US Federal Reserve. “I am not saying obtaining loans this way is right or wrong. But as a responsible Opposition, we would like to request the government to be vigilant when obtaining these loans. This facility was introduced for countries affected by the pandemic as a temporary solution.

Now when we issue ISPs in the open market, our sovereignty and jurisdiction are NY Courts. Therefore in case of our inability to repay they can use their jurisdiction or even administration. This government has a great challenge in obtaining loans. If not the above mentioned method, the other way is that the government should obtain loans from the International Monetary Fund. In that case, I would like to ask the government if it is planning to discuss with the IMF. I would also like to ask the government whether it has a plan to meet the debts due in the coming years.”

MP de Silva also requested the government to disclose the balance of the special account recently opened to cater to deposits in any currency such as dollars, yen or other.