Govt. needs Rs. 7.8bn recurrent expenditure daily - Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene

Colombo (News 1st): Convening a media briefing in Colombo today (Feb 26) MP Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene of the United People's Freedom Alliance noted that the government requires Rs. 7.8 billion as recurrent expenditure on a daily basis. However, he said the present government had only found Rs. 4 billion. The MP noted that the rest of the required funds are obtained through bank loans and swaps between banking institutions and the main issue are that investment in Sri Lanka has weakened. He questioned; "Apart from the tranche the country received through the lease of the Hambantota port, what other funds did Sri Lanka receive? Apart from the investment projects signed until 2015, what were the other major investments that came to Sri Lanka?" MP Abeywardene noted that from what they see, the government cannot survive the current financial crisis, even after the budget is made effective. He said paying salaries to state workers has also become a major issue and the budget is just a fake attempt before holding elections. However, he noted that if elections are to be held, they agree to it.

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