JO claims Budget 2017 doesn’t address the current economic crisis

• JO claims Budget 2017 doesn’t address the current economic crisis
• Says Government lacks strategy and direction
• Criticises funding cuts on key welfare sectors
• Plans to educate the public on shortcomings

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Joint Opposition yesterday said Budget 2017 has failed to define any specific policy to overcome the current economic crisis. Criticising the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s (SLFP) positive response to the proposal, JO Member MP Bandula Gunawardena called into question Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s claim that the budget had been prepared incorporating views from all parties, charging that that the JO had been excluded from the process.

“The SLFP had said that their proposals to the budget had been adopted by Karunanayake and they will vote in favor. We wonder how they could vote in favour since this budget has no proposals aimed at improving the country’s economy,” he said.

Highlighting that the allocation for Education has suffered drastic cutbacks compared to last year, Gunawardena said that the Government is attempting to support the private education sector by curtailing state funds for the public education sector.

“As a result, the public education sector will weaken. The Government has ignored one of its main responsibilities: providing free education for the younger generation,” he charged.

Gunawardena also accused the Government of curtailing recurrent expenditures on health and social empowerment sectors as a method to reduce annual government expenditures.

“Finance Minister Karunanayake has proposed to reduce the annual expenditure of the most important sectors such as health, which a Government must allocate more and more for,” he said.

Meanwhile, JO member and staunch Rajapaksa ally MP Dinesh Gunawardena claimed that this budget will just be a piece of paper just as last year which painted a ‘wonderland’ for the masses without any tangible results.   

“Prices of none of the essential goods have been reduced from the budget. Even the few price reductions given were by a very small percentage. It will not help people reduce the burden on cost of living,” he said.

Gunawardena said the Joint Opposition will arrange special seminars around the country to inform the people about the ‘deceptive nature’ of this budget.

“We believe this would be the final budget presented by this Government. We will take to the streets against it,” he said.