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JVP predicts crash of economy imminent, due to mismanagement

Published

5 years ago

2021/05/10

By Saman Indrajith

The 2020 Central Bank annual report presented to Parliament last week is a testimony to the fact that the country’s economy is in dire straits, says the JVP.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte yesterday, JVP Politburo member and former MP Sunil Handunnetti alleged that the government was using the funds meant for the development of the country for its projects to cling on to power. “The Central Bank report confirms many warnings we have been issuing in the recent past. The country’s economy is sliding into a recession and there would be a crash soon. The economy recorded a growth of -1.6% during the first quarter of 2020. That was before the onset of the pandemic. The situation worsened in the second quarter. The government is citing the pandemic as the reason for the sharp economic downturn.

“The impact of the pandemic on the economy is evident, but what we are experiencing is mainly due to the economic mismanagement. There are five main crises in our economy. The first is the loan crisis. The revenue received by the Treasury is not sufficient even to pay the installments of loans taken. To pay-back the due installments the country needs to borrow an additional 135 billion rupees. The total outstanding loans as at 2019 was Rs 14,115 billion. That increased to Rs 16,427 billion in 2020. The government has to pay 6.9 billion US dollars as loan repayments. The second is the import-export crisis.

“The government came into power promising to improve the production industry and bring down imports. We have sea areas, which eight times the country’s land masse, but we imported fish worth Rs 34,650 million in 2020. In 2010, we produced 27 percent of the onion requirement in this country; now it has dropped to eight per cent so that we have to import 92 per cent of the country’s onion requirement. We have imported Rs 27,610 million worth of salt, milk and milk products worth Rs 61,930 million. The third crisis is the weak government revenue. In 2016 the government income was around 23 per cent of the GDP. As at 2014 the figure dropped to 11.5 per cent. Now it’s at 9.1 percent.

“The fourth crisis is the collapse of the industrial sector due to the high cost of raw materials, failure to combine technological support with the industrial process and inability to create a proper market for industrial output. The fifth crisis is the inequitable distribution of national wealth.”

Of the total population, the top 10 percent of rich enjoy 38.4% of national income while 10 per cent at the bottom receive only 1.1 per cent of the national income. There is a huge tax burden on the people. This government promised to maintain 40 percent direct taxes and 60 percent indirect taxes. Yet now the indirect taxes are around 80 percent. Sri Lanka is the only country in the world with this much taxes on food consumed by the people. Even in India it’s 49 per cent, in Indonesia its 50 percent and in Thailand it is at 40 percent.”

JVP Central Committee Members Wasantha Samarasinghe and Nalin Hewage also addressed the press.

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SLNS Sindurala arrives in Visakhapatnam for SLINEX 2026

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/19

Priyan

Sri Lanka Naval Ship (SLNS) Sindurala arrived at the port of Visakhapatnam in India on 17 September 2026, to participate in the bilateral naval exercise ‘SLINEX – 2026’.

The Indian Navy formally welcomed the SLN vessel upon its arrival, adhering to naval traditions.

The joint exercise will take place on 20 and 21 September in the seas off the east coast of India. On 18 September, the Commanding Officer SLNS Sindurala, Captain Sunanda Appuhamy, held official discussions with Commander Suraj Aiyappa, Commanding Officer Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kavaratti, aboard both vessels.

The annual exercise aims to enhance cooperation, interoperability, and professional exchange between the two navies. During the exercise, crew members from SLNS Sindurala will also participate in several professional and cultural exchanges organized by the Indian Navy.

News

Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal

Published

16 hours ago

2026/09/19

Priyan

Navel and fishing communities engaging the activities over this sea area are advised to be vigilant

Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal deep sea areas
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 05.00 p.m. 18 September 2026, valid for the next 24 hours.

PLEASE BE AWARE!
The atmospheric disturbance to the North of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to develop into a low pressure area within the next 24 hours.

Due to its influence, wind speed over the Bay of Bengal sea areas will increase during the next few days starting from
tomorrow (19th).

The wind speed in the sea areas marked under the “Advisory” category on the map below will increase to 55-65 kmph at times and those sea areas will be rough or very rough at times.

Navel and fishing communities engaging the activities over this sea area are advised to be vigilant and be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the department of Meteorology in this regards.

News

Some NPP manifesto promises may be difficult to fulfil – CIABOC DG

Published

18 hours ago

2026/09/19

Thilina Walpola

Ranga Dissanayake (Director General CIABOC) at the BMICH on Wednesday

Text and Pic by Priyan de Silva

Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) Ranga Dissanayake has questioned whether some promises contained in the National People’s Power (NPP) manifesto, A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life, could be fulfilled even if the government wanted to implement them.

Dissanayake raised the issue during a discussion following the release of the third biannual report on manifesto monitoring by the March 12 Movement, at the BMICH, on Wednesday.

He questioned whether the report had taken into account legal and institutional constraints affecting the implementation of certain pledges.

Citing the proposal to establish Anti-Corruption Investigation Offices in each district, Dissanayake said such offices could be established only with the agreement of CIABOC and that amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act would be necessary.

He also referred to the pledge to abolish the Executive Presidency, noting that successive governments had made similar commitments since 1994. He questioned whether there had been adequate consideration of where the powers vested in the Executive President would be transferred if the system were abolished.

On the proposal to establish a Public Prosecutor, Dissanayake questioned whether the Government intended to maintain the office alongside the Attorney General, who currently performs prosecution-related functions.

Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said Dissanayake’s remarks should be regarded as his personal views and not as Government policy.

Monitoring and Evaluation Consultants M. Thilakarajah and D.D. Mataharaarachchi presented the third-phase findings, covering January to June 2026.