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By Ashwin Hemmathagama, Our Lobby Correspondent
The Vote on Account (VOA) seeking House approval to spend Rs. 1,765 billion during the first four months of 2019 to settle the Government’s capital and recurrent expenses along with debt servicing was passed yesterday in Parliament with 102 lawmakers voting in favour.
JVP MPs Anura Dissanayake, Nihal Galappaththi, Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunnetti, Bimal Rathnayake, and Nalinda Jayatissa voted against the motion. United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) lawmakers along with Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa were not present in the Chamber when the vote was taken.
Moving the resolution prepared to reflect the policies of the new Government, Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera held that the Vote on Account will cater to public needs despite the fact that the United National Front (UNF) was unable to present Budget 2019 as planned.
“If the Vote on Account is not approved, the country will face a dilemma. If by any chance we had been unable to have the Vote on Account passed prior to 31 December, the whole country would have been plunged into a serious economic crisis. The State sector employees will not have salaries, pensions could not be paid, and Samurdhi benefits will be withheld. The country was without a legitimate Prime Minister or a Government,” said Minister Samaraweera.
Dismissing Opposition interruptions, Minister Samaraweera held that the Sirisena-Rajapaksa administration was defeated by both the Legislature and Judiciary, which upheld democracy. Minister Samaraweera, looking at Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that he was deceived by his close associates.
“I feel sorry for you. You are someone who usually never falls for dead ropes, but this time you were taken for a serious ride and this time, you did not eat a normal rope, but you swallowed a cable rope. It is saddening when something like this happens to a fellow southerner,” said Minister Samaraweera sarcastically.
Samaraweera assured the commitment of Government MPs to bring the nation out of the crisis. Inviting the Opposition led by MP Mahinda Rajapaksa to join the Government in its efforts to rebuild the economy, Minister Samaraweera said that he will not be misled badly. “I assure you that we won’t give you dead ropes and will not let you down. We will say what we mean directly,” he added.
Looking at history, the first Vote on Account was moved in 1931 by the Leader of the State Council, Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka. During the recent past, Vote on Accounts were presented in 1995, 2002, and in 2010 to allocated moneys for State expenses. The Vote on Account passed yesterday allocates Rs. 795 billion and Rs. 965 billion for recurrent and capital expenditures, respectively, in addition to the allocation of Rs. 5 billion for the purpose of advances.
According to Minister Samaraweera, Sri Lanka has had positive economic growth during the first six months of 2018. “There was a surplus in the current account. The inflation reached 0.1% in October. The foreign reserves stood at $ 8 billion. Sri Lanka had healthy international ratings and as a result, the International Monetary Fund increased the support extended to Sri Lanka,” he explained, citing 2017 as the best year of the coalition Government that reported the highest foreign investment and the exports.
In retrospect, the Enterprise Sri Lanka program of the coalition Government has contributed to expanding the economy where over Rs. 50 billion has been disbursed as loans for the private sector, including the small and medium enterprises.
“The Government has given an interest benefit exceeding Rs. 5 billion. Based on the interest rate benefit, the agriculture, export, information technology, and tourism sectors have been seen turning a new leaf. As a result, the economy was widening. The Gamperaliya program developed the infrastructure at grassroots. As at October, we had allocated Rs. 20 billion for development of small irrigation projects and tanks, construction of markets, and rural road development,” explained Minister Samaraweera, who was sure the country was heading in the right direction to be the trade centre of the Indian Ocean within a short period.
Adding humour in between his Vote on Account speech, Minister Samaraweera, referring to Opposition Leader Rajapaksa, said: “I initially thought you were innocent and had no hand in this coup, but it later struck me that you were also part of this conspiracy. At the Parliament canteen, when you invited me to join you, I thought you were delusional as always. But I heard you were at the Shangri-La before you quietly slipped out and took oath as the fake Prime Minister, even without the knowledge of your wife, Shiranthi Rajapaksa.”
On a more serious note, the Finance Minister said the Government intends to present the Budget for 2019 with amendments in January, and that the debate would run into February before it is passed.
“As a responsible Government, we have presented the Vote on Account to enable the smooth functioning of the Government mechanism for the first four months of 2019.”
The country has faced a major setback post-26 October, the Minister said. According to Minister Samaraweera, sovereign credit ratings were reduced. “Three key international credit rating agencies reduced Sri Lanka’s rating. The domestic interest rates went up by 0.85%, increasing the debt servicing responsibilities of the Government. Rs. 66.5 billion worth of funds were withdrawn from our market. The rupee continued to depreciate despite the 37% reduction of the global fuel prices. Regardless of seasonal benefits, the tourism industry collapsed,” said Minister Samaraweera, promising to realign the country within a short period on the path to development.
