Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went on with his usual talk while speaking in Deniyaya, saying Sri Lanka’s income is increasing.
The PM started off saying Sri Lanka’s income is not sufficient to repay the debt. He added that Sri Lanka has been in debt-over-income since 2013.
“A country cannot commit suicide. How will we repay this debt? How will we strengthen exports? We need to repay these debts and for that we need to earn. If we are to earn we need to develop. That development needs to be swift. This development needs to capture the export market.” he added.
Premier Wickremesinghe says that if loans are not taken to repay the existing debt, Sri Lanka’s economy will “destabilize”.
“We can now repay our debt with the income. We can use the surplus for development activities. It can be used for the budget.”
The Prime Minister added that Sri Lanka has to get ‘more loans’ since “we can not allocate all the financial requirements through the budget”.
“We had to increase VAT in 2016. There were protests. We are now systematically increasing the income.”
Meanwhile JVP Provincial Councillor Nalin Hewage commented on Sri Lanka’s economy in Matara.
“What will be left of this country?”
Hewage pointed out that;
- Colombo port is no more
- Hambanthota port is no more
- Mattala Airport is no more
The JVP Councillor raised a question which is in everyone’s mind at present. “What will be left of Sri Lanka?”
He stated that the Sri Lankan youth will not have a country to set foot on in the future.
“This government obtained loans amounting to 120 billion, This is how they have built the country.”
Hewage then challenged PM Wickremesinghe’s statement that Sri Lanka’s economy is “stable”.
“Of the 32 economic indicators, you have failed in 30. Only two are positive.
How can you say that the economy is stable?“
