11 December 2021 12:00 am Views - 97
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday urged the government to withdraw the gazette notification under which it has made conversion of dollars held by investors and those who remit funds to Sri Lanka, into rupees mandatory.
“It is not correct to force someone to convert dollars into rupees. This programme of expropriation of private property. The exporters will not be able to manage their funds. Red tape has been increased. At the time the rest of the world is engaged in de-regulation to boost investments, the Sri Lankan government is trying to de-stabilise them,” Mr. Premadasa said.
Also he said it will be more and more difficult for the government to borrow at a nominal rate when foreign reserves decline. Mr. Premadasa also questioned whether the government is planning to hand over the task of resolving the exchange rate issue to the Army Commander. “The task of resolving the fertiliser issue is assigned to the army commander.
A host of other tasks has been assigned to the military. The handling of the economy will be given to the military at this rate,” he added.