Ready to take unpopular decisions to recover economic crisis: President

While saying he was not taking decisions seeking popularity, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today he was ready to take unpopular decisions to recover the country from the economic crisis.

Making the policy statement in Parliament, he said the country would lose Rs. 163 billion if PAYE tax was abolished.

He said the country was not in a position to abolish the PAYE tax at present.

"Introducing new tax policies is a politically unpopular decision. Remember, I’m not here to be popular. I want to rebuild this nation from the crisis situation it has fallen. Yes, I’m ready to make unpopular decisions for the sake of the nation. People will realize the importance of those decisions in two to three years,”he said.(Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)