A national Government by the 1st of May - PM

Colombo (News 1st): Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who toured the Galle city today (Feb 9) handed over 99 Garbage collecting machines to the local government bodies in Galle and declared open the Galle Public Service sports club. Speaking at these events Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe noted that as on now there is no national government, however, members of other parties including certain members of the SLPP agrees that this system would benefit this country. He noted that they are hoping to bring the National government system to effect by the 1st of May. Speaking at an event in Kurunegala on Friday (Feb 8) the Prime Minister noted that Sri Lanka is a country burdened by debt. He noted that the country was in a difficult situation in 2013 and 2014, no one had thought the situation could be solved, however in 2015 through intervention they (UNP) had started to solve the issue. PM Wickremesinghe noted that the loans were paid back with much difficulty and now the country has to source the money through various means of income and settle the loans. He said this year they are hoping to establish an export economy, so by 2030, the country would be able to pay back all the loans.

Political response

Several parties expressed their views on the statement made by the Prime Minister regarding the debt burden of the country yesterday (Feb 8). National Organizer of the All Ceylon Farmers' Federation Namal Karunaratne questioned the prime minister whether they considered this debt situation while robbing the Central Bank. JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa noted that the Auditor General released an important document in 2018, it revealed that the total assets of the country are less than Rs .1000 Billion even though the country has to pay Rs. 13000 Billion in debt. He noted that even though Mahinda Rajapaksa says that he built the port, airport and other developments, the total assets would not exceed Rs. 1000 Billion, if so if the amount of the debt is 1000 billion and if the total asset worth 1000 billion, he questioned where the rest of the money is. MP Jayatissa added that for the last three years, Ranil Wickremesinghe's government obtained loans worth Rs. 3000 Billion. He pointed out that instead of spending money for the development of the country, they have to pay an interest 3 - 4 times larger than the debt. The parliamentarian noted that the people of this country are in need of a commission to look into this debt burden and to ascertain as to what was done using the money that was borrowed.