Ready to take unpopular decisions

• People will realize the importance of those decisions in two to three years
• A decision has to be made regarding more land to be released for which discussions are being held with the Army and other parties
• The country will lose a total of Rs.163 bn. if taxes are to be reduced

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana   

Whilst highlighting that the country will lose a total of Rs 163 billion if taxes are to be reduced, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said he is ready to take unpopular decisions to see that the country recovers from the economic crisis.  “Introducing new tax policies is a politically unpopular decision. Remember I am not here to become popular. I want to rebuild the nation from the crisis situation. 

Yes I am ready to take unpopular decisions for the sake of the nation. People will realize the importance of those decisions in two to three years, the President said at the ceremonial opening of Parliament yesterday.   

Some people say that the primary taxable income should be raised from 100,000 to 200,000 rupees. Others say that the PAYE tax method should be abolished. We did not impose these taxes willingly. However, just doing what we like will not build the nation. Even reluctantly, the right policy should be implemented. If PAYE tax is abolished, the country will lose 100 billion rupees. If the tax limit is raised to two hundred thousand rupees, the economy will lose 63 billion rupees. The total amount that will be lost is 163 billion rupees. We are presently not in a position to lose this income. Due to the present economic crisis, the tax burden is more strongly felt. There is an important fact to be considered. At present, most of the taxes are paid by the general public. Since taxes from individuals and institutions directly liable for taxes are not being properly collected, all Sri Lankans pay huge sums of money as indirect taxes. A large number of people who are not liable to pay taxes, pays it by default. These taxes are called indirect taxes,” the President said.   

“{Also, the economic reforms required for our country should be implemented. We neglected economic reforms for the sake of narrow political agendas. The burden of loss-making government institutions was borne by the people. Last year, the loss of state-owned enterprises was approximately 800 billion rupees. The people have been bearing all these losses for many years. However, they do not realize this situation. They bear the burden of these loss-making government institutions. Even the most destitute have to bear the cost of maintaining these institutions. Therefore, we should immediately carry out economic reforms,” the President added referring to state enterprise reforms.   

“Surviving the economic extremity would culminate in ensuring peace and harmony among the communities in our nation,” the President stressed.    

Both R. Sampanthan and I were elected to Parliament in 1977. We both have a common dream, which is to provide a sustainable solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka while we are both in Parliament. Ever since, we have been discussing that dream and have been making efforts towards its achievement. All previous attempts have failed, but, we wish to succeed this time. We expect your support to this end.   

The conflict in the North and East affected the entire nation and many areas were severely damaged. The Northern Province entirely and several areas in the Eastern and North Central Provinces suffered immensely from the war. We are taking steps to put more weight on the development of these areas. A general plan is being implemented in this regard.   
We know that there are still unresolved issues related to land in the North. In the Jaffna district, there are 3300 acres of state land including security camps.