Monday, 9 February 2015 00:02
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SLFP Parliamentarian and son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa, says he voted for the Interim Budget of the new Government yesterday, with reluctance.
He noted that the SLFP had taken a decision to vote for the Interim Budget presented by the new Government and in the interest of maintaining the integrity and unity of the Party, he had decided to stand with the party decision.
“However, I do so with reluctance because of concerns I have about the unsustainable nature of the proposals that have been presented,” he added.
He said the Budget was prepared to please the public with impending elections in mind, with short-sighted proposals that were more appropriate for a 100-day program rather than the entire year that national budgets should be targeted towards.
“Consider, for example, the reduction in the prices of petrol, diesel, LP gas, and kerosene. Fuel reductions are generally welcome measures. However, though it would appear to be an immediate relief to the public, the extent of the reduction in fuel prices, unfortunately, are unlikely to be sustainable in the long run and could have an immensely negative impact on the overall economy,” he said.
He also noted that even though global oil prices were low at the time the present Government decreased fuel prices, this past week, crude prices have seen a marked increase and so how sustainable the price reduction will be is the concern. “While it may be easy to please the public in the short-term with such measures, such ad-hoc decisions are more likely to have a negative long-term impact on the country’s economy and thus the everyday lives of ordinary citizens,” he added. Another concern, he said, was the extent to which the Government had decided to increase salaries. He says the new administration has amplified the salary hike to a level that will not be sustainable. “There are also a number of concerns with regard to proposals pertaining to the agricultural sector as well. First, even though the Government has proposed a guaranteed price of Rs. 50/kg for paddy, it will be difficult to secure that price with the low prices of wheat flour and bread. Additionally, considering the duty free imports for products like green gram, dry fish and other grain varieties, there will be a negative impact for farmers of these agricultural products. The bottom line is that these budget proposals will almost definitely hurt the local farmers, not help them,” Rajapaksa said.
Rajapaksa said he stood with the new Government’s claims that the budget must provide relief to those who are less fortunate, to those who are finding it difficult to provide for their families and that it was crucially important to help fellow Sri Lankans lift themselves out of poverty. (Colombo Gazette)
