A deceptive Budget: MR

Wednesday, 6 March 2019 00:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa in conversation during the traditional post-Budget tea party in Parliament yesterday – Pic by Shehan Gunasekera

Says Budget a burden on the people, slaps vehicle taxes

Calling the Budget deceptive, Leader of the Opposition, former President, and one-time Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the Budget presented will put further burden on the people.

“They have given a misleading picture. People will feel it when they have to pay up,” the UPFA MP told reporters yesterday.

“Benefits are just a pittance,” he said.

Rajapaksa, unimpressed with the allowances and salary increments granted to the State sector, said that although the Government has given salary increases to the military, it has neglected to extend the same to the Police.

“There is a small allowance for commandos, there are so many other special units in the Army which have been neglected, and Police has been completely forgotten,” he said. Rajapaksa also called out the Finance Minister’s estimates, claiming that statement made by Mangala Samaraweera about Hambantota needing 100,000 toilets was a blatant lie.

“What a lie is that, maybe the officials are misleading him with wrong figures,” he scoffed.

Critical of the revised vehicle taxes, Rajapaksa said that the “vehicle dreams of the youth are now over.”

However, the Opposition Leader was doubtful of their chances of defeating the Budget. When asked, Rajapaksa said they will try to defeat it, but was not sure of the number of votes they had in hand.

“We will defeat it, but if they have bigger numbers we won’t be able to defeat.”