Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara stressed on Friday (29) that addressing the Economic challenge was like a ‘suicide mission,’ highlighting the Government’s successful completion of the task of restoring the Economy to normalcy.
Minister Nanayakkara noted that an uninformed group believes that bringing down Inflation, improving Exchange Rates, and increasing Salaries can be achieved during an election to gain an advantage, which clearly proves that such groups are being misled. He pointed out that recent statistics indicate the President has successfully tackled the Economic challenges.
The Minister expressed these views during the inauguration of the Jayagamu Sri Lanka programme at Gamini Vidyalaya’s Ground in Vavuniya.
“Today, approximately 80% of Vavuniya’s population consists of Tamil speakers, while Sinhala speakers make up about 20%.
Vavuniya stands as a testament to friendship and unity. It is the government’s responsibility to safeguard this rich heritage. Today, President Ranil Wickramasinghe is working towards building a unified nation.”
“Today, many leaders are stepping forward to lead the country and save the nation. However, during the Economic crisis, no one came forward to take charge. There was no new Lee Kuan Yew or Mahathir Mohamad at that time. When the situation was dire, only one fearless leader took over the country. That leader is President Ranil Wickremesinghe.”
“As of July 2022, the country’s reserves were US$ 1,815 million. By February of this year, we have increased foreign reserves to US$ 4,491 million. Some argue that this increase is due to our strategy of not paying off debts. However, we have started to repay our foreign debt other than International Sovereign Bonds. We have also opened up imports except for private vehicles. Additionally, migrant workers have been granted the opportunity to import private vehicles.”
“In the fourth quarter of 2022, the gross domestic product was negative at minus 12.4. However, we were able to turn it into a positive value. By the fourth quarter of last year, we had managed to grow it to positive 4.2.”
“In the year 2022, 52 major State-owned enterprises in the country were experiencing significant losses. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation paid the salaries of the employees using public tax money. These enterprises collectively suffered a loss of Rs 744,658 million. However, by April 2023, those institutions were turned profitable. Today, these institutions have generated a profit of Rs 144,224 million.”
When we accepted the challenge, Inflation had risen to 70% – 80%. By July 2022, Inflation had decreased to 60%. As of today, we have managed to reduce it to a single-digit value, with current inflation standing at 5.9%.”
When we took over the government, US$ 1 was worth Rs 380. There were predictions that a US$ could reach Rs 500, Rs 600, or even Rs 700. Economic experts doubted where the US$ would stabilise, with some suggesting extreme scenarios like needing a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. However, today, we have successfully brought a US$ down to Rs 290.
By May 2022, remittances by expatriate workers had dropped below US$ 200 million per month. In the first two months of 2023, the country received US$ 845 million. However, in just the first two months of this year, migrant workers have sent US$ 964 million. Consequently, since we took over, the country has received US$10 billion in foreign remittances.
Following remittances from expatriate workers, Tourism stands as the country’s largest source of US$. In 2022, the country welcomed 178,000 Tourists. However, in the first two months of this year alone, the number of Tourists has exceeded 400,000. During the same period in 2023, Tourism revenue rose from US$ 332 million to US$ 688 million.
As government employees are receiving Salary increases, the minimum wage for private sector employees has also been raised from Rs 12,500 to Rs 17,500, representing a 40% raise. This increase includes the Rs 3,500 granted through Budget concessions, resulting in a new minimum Basic Salary of Rs 21,000. Additionally, adjustments have been made to employees’ ETF and EPF benefits as well. Plantation workers have also voiced their demands for higher wages, prompting the President’s intervention.
Now when we are doing these things, some people say that the election is coming. We tell them. When a vote comes, if we can reduce Inflation, if we can increase the value of the Rupee, if we can increase Wages in this way, we say let’s always have elections, then we can give more relief to the people.
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