Ravi says MR regime handed Govt. an unpinned grenade

By Charumini de Silva

Despite several allegations by the Opposition, the Government was trying its best to take the economy forward with transparency despite being equipped with limited resources, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday.

“If the economy was damaged, it only happened during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime. We were just handed an unpinned grenade,” he said.

The Minister said that this Government faced no financial crisis but that the only crisis was created by the previous administration.

The Minister said that previous regime never spoke of public sector salary increments or pension but within a short period the new Government had been able to deliver on these two fronts.

“G.L Pieris, Wimal Weerawansa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara are screaming that they brought so much prosperity to the country; instead they just dropped an unpinned grenade into our hands. What we have done now is dispose of that grenade and push the economy forward,” he added.

“G.L. Pieris is an intellectual fraud. He was in power for all these years but never raised his voice. However, he has now suddenly raised his voice against the bond issue and the Central Bank,” he said.

Karunanayake also invited former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a debate.

“If we inquire they mean to say that we take revenge on them? I’m the Finance Minister under this Government and the responsibility is placed on my shoulders to reveal these things. Thus my duty is to protect the people of this country,” he noted.