Brace yourselves for the economic crisis - Min. Mangala Samaraweera

Colombo (News 1st) - Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera addressing students in Royal College, Colombo asked the students to brace themselves for the current economic situation in the country. The MP stated that flooding the market with money is not the solution and saving as many dollars as possible should be the goal. He also stated that everyone including the Ministers should stop themselves from buying high-end vehicles and that he will not allow the import of these vehicles from next year. MP Mangala Samaraweera addressing the students stated that it's a time period that could be used to support local products and reduce the purchase of imported goods such as wine, cheese. He stated that this could be a time to "expedite our programmes to make Sri Lanka into an export-oriented economy." He then stated that CNN reported on the fuel price rising up to 81 USD that they predicted that if the US sanctions on Iran gets worse, the fuel may hike up to USD 100. Although the Minister of Finance asks the general public to tighten their belts isn't it the Ministers themselves who should be doing so by setting an example? Today Minister Sarath Fonseka distributed vehicles worth over Rs. 244 Mn to departments under his ministry. Have the Ministers who advise the public to cut down on their foreign travel, luxury vehicles, and lavish vacations? The International Monetary Fund says CBSL’s efforts should be supported by a strong 2019 budget adding greater revenue mobilization can make space for critical spending needs, including broader coverage of vulnerable families under the social safety net based on well-defined selection criteria. The IMF says the mission made significant progress toward reaching a staff-level agreement with the government on completing the fifth review of the EFF. Thus it was suggested that tax policies should be applied in a more constructive manner. The mission commended the successful implementation of the fuel pricing reform and encouraged the introduction of an automatic pricing mechanism for electricity.