Sri lankan Finance Minister Mangala Ignored the early warnings
Ruling party telling people to tighten belts while MPs living in luxury
by Thilanka Kanakarathna-( October 2, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The pro-joint opposition union in Sri Lanka, the Government Medical Officers’ Association ( GMOA) said yesterday Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had remained silent when economic experts predicted, well in advance, about the rupee depreciation and the economic crisis.
Its Secretary Haritha Aluthge said the MPs had requested people to tighten their belts while they continued to enjoy luxury lifestyles.
“Amid an economic crisis, the provincial councils are enacting dramas with unnecessary expenses. The subject minister did not take any preventive measures even when advised by the experts. It is unfair to heap this burden on the people,” he said.
Dr. Aluthge said the duty-free vehicle permits for MPs’ cost some Rs.7 billion each year.
He said though the Finance Minister had suspended the issuance of duty-free permits to MPs, by then most of them had purchased vehicles or sold their permits.
Meanwhile, GMOA Assistant Secretary Samantha Herath said the country’s economic management had broken down.
“On the one hand the Government is calling for the restriction on the import of luxury consumer goods, but on other hand they are importing services, which contribute to more than 56 per cent drain on the country’s economy, through FTA’s with Singapore and Thailand,” he said.
Dr. Herath claimed that when professionals speak of the economy they were criticized.
“Today the citizens are suffering from the consequences of economic mismanagement and the failure to draft a national policy,” he said.
Courtesy: Citizen Mirror
