Livelihoods matter as much as lives: Cabraal

Renewing the calls to reopen the country, the State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that livelihoods matter as much as lives as one cannot do without the other as a strangled economy is unable to either support virus response or those who are economically-suffocated by the pandemic induced lockdowns for over a month.  

Sri Lanka caused a self-inflicted economic crisis of massive scale since the third week of April by deciding to re-impose restrictions on a fragile economy, which was just coming off from the worst contraction in 2020.

“Livelihoods matter as much as lives,” said Cabraal, the State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms joining in a television discussion on Wednesday.

Cabraal in an earlier occasion said he continuously opposed lockdowns as they weaken the government of its ability to support virus containment and help those who are affected by the pandemic.

He called for a “new normal” to be established soon so that people could go about their lives under health guidelines. 

Responding to those who continuously clamour for tougher and longer restrictions on people’s lives to bring the virus under control, Cabraal asked them to say the same thing to those 4.5 million people who depend on daily income.  Over 4.5 million people out of a workforce of 8.5 million in Sri Lanka make a living out of daily incomes.

Last year’s lockdowns alone pushed over half a million into poverty, the Finance Ministry said while another half a million in the leisure sector are out of jobs for over a year now as their employers call for a wage subsidy model from the government as they increasingly struggle to keep them in payroll.  Cabraal said there is more to people’s lives than to giving them a Rs.5, 000 stipend to put food on their tables, which is also not even remotely sufficient. The cost of lockdowns is also taking a massive toll on people’s lives by way of skyrocketing supplier and consumer prices.