Cabraal predicts Rs 14 trillion debt in 2019; 100% of GDP

Colombo (News 1st): A conference under the theme "Let's save the country against treacherous forces" was held in Kandy yesterday (March 11). Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal speaking at the conference noted that now the Prime Minister of the country says it is difficult for the country to recover from its debt. He noted that the current CBSL governor says that Sri Lanka has fallen into a depression worse than it has ever been before. He went onto note that Ambassador from Germany says, Sri Lanka is not suitable for any investment and over the past 4 years the economic growth has severely decreased. Cabraal said businessmen say the market is not performing nowadays as the money the people use to have is no more with them. Former CB Governor noted that they use various names and charge more taxes and the tax income now is Rs. 2.5 Trillion. He said there should be three points taken into consideration when we take a look at the debt and they are;

1. Repayment capacity

2. I

   nterest rate
3. Maturity time

Cabraal went onto note that the government will increase the debt to Rs 14 trillion before the end of this year and it will go up to 100% as a percentage of GDP.  He noted that the loan amount will increase with the depreciation of the rupee. Ajith Nivard Cabraal said in 2018 their debt has significantly increased due to the depreciation of the rupee. He noted that over the past 4 years Rs. 1500 billion has been added to the countries debt.