Contingent Liability Bill in the offing to fix MR-era spending spree

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday revealed that a Contingent Liability Bill may have to be introduced in Parliament to address the additional revenue requirement to pay for expensive debt commitments and unaccounted expenditure incurred under the President Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

“There are spending to carry on with. We still don’t know how much of debt has been left behind by our predecessor. Parliament will have to decide as to how additional income can be raised to meet these expenditures,” Wickramasinghe said.

He also said that the Government would discuss a Stand-By Arrangement from the International Monetary Fund to cushion the country from any adverse impact from imminent external shocks. 

IMF expertise will be roped in to rewrite the tax code, the Premier added.