Government can't manage finances : Sajith Premadasa

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The government has withdrawn the Vote on Account presented in parliament a few days ago. The Prime Minister said that the government could not allocate the money as expenditure including payment to contractors had to be paid. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa elaborated on this: The proposal was not brought forward to settle the loans we took. It isn't about who obtained these loans. The opposition disagreed with us when we were going to pay the money we owe to private companies. If we had paid that money the people who are working for the private sector could get paid more and could enjoy the Sinhala and Tamil new year. The opposition thought they would be able to defeat this. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa responding said: A large amount of money was lost and they stopped paying contractors. The proposal the government presented had two parts. One is the development proposal and the second was to extend the debt ceiling. We agreed to the first proposal and disagreed to the second one. But the government had withdrawn both of them claiming that we opposed. They cancelled Gamperaliya. Stopped Enterprise Sri Lanka. Stopped nutritional ration for pregnant mothers. They reduced the amount allocated for school uniform vouchers and stopped the housing programs. They also stopped renovating religious places. This government stopped increasing the state workers salaries even though we agreed to it. They abandoned the Pension Anomalies presented to the cabinet. They cancelled all state workers allowances. What happened to all the money they saved by cutting these expenses? If anyone is saying that the contractors have not been paid it's not the truth. It's a trick to fool the people. We ask the government: why haven't they presented a budget in 13 weeks.? Journalist: They say that they do not have money because of the money spent on projects implemented by the previous government. Responding Sajith Premadasa had this to say: During these 13 weeks, the government has lost revenue of Rs 500 to 600 billion. Once they lose income they can't pay the bills. They can't point fingers at the Opposition because of their inability to handle finance. Journalist: Was there an attempt made to make a decision to increase the debt ceiling? Sajith Premadasa What we are saying is that the existing development projects should be funded through existing government income. A country cannot go forward by losing Rs 500 to 600 billion in government income. We disagreed with increasing loans after doing a comprehensive calculation. Through increasing loans, our country gets trapped economically.