Cannot develop country by selling state property or obtaining more loans

 By Ajith Siriwardana

 Sri Lanka could not be developed by selling state property or obtaining loans anymore as the country had practised the same strategy for the last three to four decades without any success, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday.

 Speaking at a rally in Panadura, he said if President Ranil Wickremesinghe was to develop the country by obtaining loans, he could have done that during 2015 and 2019 when he obtained USD 12.5 billion loans. 

 “He is getting only USD 2.9 billion from the IMF for four years this time. He obtained USD 12.5 billion within four and half years between 2015 and 2019. He also obtained USD 1 billion by selling the Hambantota Port. But he was not able to develop the country. How can he recover the country from the economic crisis by obtaining only USD 2.9 billion for four years,” he said.
 He said Sri Lanka has sold off 88 government ventures during the past and added that selling state property would no longer be a solution to the economic crisis either.
 He said fraud, corruption and misuse were rampant behind the selling of state resources and pointed out that such practices should be stopped to develop the country.