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Thursday, 7 March 2019 01:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Nuwan Senarathna
Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and former Security Exchange Commission Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa were strong detractors of Budget 2019 yesterday, insisting it contained repeated policies which the Government could not achieve earlier, and would not provide relief to the masses.
The duo pointed out the Budget has several policies aimed at improving export and investment, which were included in previous Budgets, but had not been implemented. They also contended that loans schemes included in the Budget had already been announced under Enterprise Sri Lanka.
“We don’t know if this is the 2019 Budget or the same old Budget presented previously because most of these proposals were presented before. This is just to give the impression that the Finance Minister was not aware of the proposals, but they were already presented last year,” Cabraal told reporters at the Viyath Maga Head Office in Colombo. He said the repetition of policies in the Budget had clearly displayed the inefficiency of the Government in implementing their plans. Cabraal argued that this was simply the latest attempt by the Government to show they had achieved something before elections, expected later this year. The Budget did not tackle problems of low growth, currency depreciation and other challenges, but merely presented a bunch of old policies to the people, he argued.
Cabraal said the Budget proposals had failed to address the issues pertaining to stabilisation of the economy, which had been hampered by high debt repayments. He noted the Budget should have focused on ways to meet this year’s debt repayments, which exceed $ 5 billion.
Cabraal claimed the Government was unable to build confidence among investors, which remains one of the biggest weakness of the Government. According to Cabraal, policy inconsistency has been the main reason, which has created negative sentiments among investors about the Sri Lankan economy
“After this Government came into power, they have presented nine economic policy statements. Therefore no one knows what the Government’s economic policies are, such actions create doubts in the minds of not only foreign investors but also among the local investors as well.”
He said the Government should have one clear plan to achieve stable economic policies, recalling that during his tenure at the Central Bank, the former Government had used a road map to give clear targets.
Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, speaking in his turn, said the Government had imposed goods and services taxes to meet Government revenue targets, but this would be a burden on the people as they would increase prices.
According to Dr. Godahewa, taxes on goods and services had increased by 97% compared to the year 2014, which has impacted the low and middle-income communities. He noted the Government would have to rely on taxes and foreign loans to implement all the new projects introduced in the Budget.
He argued despite the Rs. 2500 allowance for public sector employees, they represent only one part of the workforce, and the Government should have policies to increase incomes across all segments.
