Concerns raised on delay in publishing quarterly economic growth rate

COLOMBO (News1st): An opposition politician has raised concerns on the delay in publishing the country's quarterly economic growth rate, suspecting it could be to cover up a negative figure. Dr Harsha De Silva, a candidate of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya said, the growth rate for the first quarter of a year must be published by June. "From what we heard, the growth rate during the first quarter of this year is a negative figure," De Silva, who is also an economist said on Sunday. "Manipulating such important economic indicators will tarnish our country's reputation." De Silva added that the negative growth rate could have been the result of the government's wrong economic and tax policies. Citing a central bank statement, he pointed out that the country's total debt that stood at Rs 13 trillion in January had increased to Rs 14 trillion by April. A foreign lending agency, for the first time, has requested for collateral from the Sri Lankan government, the opposition parliamentary election candidate observed. "The New York Federal Reserve Bank has requested the Sri Lankan government to use the US treasury bills belonging to Sri Lanka as collateral, in return for a lending facility," De Silva added.