Ravi K says “claimed prosperity” can make Sri Lanka lend to US

Thursday, 10 April 2014 01:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake during the debate in Parliament yesterday said that at the rate of development projected by Minister Siyambalapitiya, there are no issues in Sri Lanka and the island nation is now in a position to lend money to President Barack Obama to solve the deficit in the US. Highlighting a recent article published in the Daily FT, MP Karunanayake stated that Fitch Rating has cautioned the reduction of external finances in Sri Lanka.

“This is the reality in comparison. Your Budget is nothing more than a daydream, which manipulates the budget deficit. Your FDI target fell short by $ 540 million though you aimed at $ 1 billion. The economy is in a crisis and the Treasury has passed the pension and gratuity buck to the State banks. This is the reality. If the economy is so vibrant, why do all banks carry a negative balance sheet? Some of the amendments are timely. But what action have you taken to improve the agriculture sector, which was at 20% and is now reduced to 11.1% of GDP? You were talking about a rice surplus and the newspapers carry plans to import rice,” exposed MP Karunanayake.