Namal alleges govt. incurred loss of Rs. 1,000 bn

UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa said today the government had incurred a loss of Rs. 1000 billion due to its poor economic management while the previous government spent only Rs. 300 billion to construct the Hambantota Port and Mattala Airport.

He told parliament that the government had not been able to control the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, which had resulted in the loss.

He said Mahinda Rajapaksa's Government obtained only Rs. 5 trillion as loans for ten years but this government has obtained Rs. 5 trillion in just four years.

"This government has done no development with such huge amount of loans. We can show the development we did with loans obtained by us," he said.

Commenting on the loan schemes proposed in the budget proposals, he said the government should strengthen the banking system while keeping the interest rate at one digit rather than introducing loan schemes.

"If a youth is to obtain the proposed Rs. 10 million loan, he has to earn a monthly salary of Rs. 100,000. The monthly installment will be Rs. 64,000," he said.

He alleged the government has taken steps to cut down on funds for development projects as requested by the IMF to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5 per cent from the Gross Domestic Product by 2020.

"Even the President's Grama Shakthi programme was allocated only Rs. 500 million," he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)