Govt. heading for financial crisis: GL
1 June 2015 03:21 am
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The government will run into a serious financial crisis as it has failed to give legal effect to the taxes proposed in the budget to raise revenue for the financial year under review, former External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said yesterday.
Addressing a meeting in Tangalle yesterday, Prof. Peiris said though the government proposed various taxes such as Super Gain Tax, Mansion Levy and all, none of them had been enacted in Parliament in the form of laws to give them legal effect. Therefore, he said, none of these taxes would be valid.
"The budget is a fairy tale. The government cannot raise revenue now," he said.
Commenting on the Treasury Bond issue, he said , for the first time, a person who had renounced loyalty to Sri Lanka, had placed his signature to the currency notes of Sri Lanka. He said this situation had arisen with the appointment of Arjuna Mahendran, a Singaporean, as the Central Bank Governor. Prof. Peiris held Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe responsible for this appointment, and said it warranted a no-confidence motion against the government.
Also, he said the proposed electoral reforms should be enacted in the form of 20th Amendment through a majority government, and the present minority government should be replaced through a no-confidence motion.
Once that is done, he said, President Maitripala Sirisena could appoint someone commanding the majority support in Parliament as the Prime Minister.