Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said yesterday (29) in Parliament that no matter what government there is, the development activities in this country cannot be restarted without debt restructuring.
The Minister also said that the second loan tranche of the International Monetary Fund will be received after the budget is passed.
The Minister said this while joining the debate held under the budget of the ministries of transport and highways, urban development and housing.
The Mnister further said that regardless of the government, after 1977, all these development activities have been done with local and foreign loans. No matter how much we don’t like it, according to Article 148 of the Basic Constitution, Parliament has full power over public finances. The council did not accept this crisis no matter how much they said. From that day until now, it has not been possible to create a surplus in the Refractory Account.
After spending money on the main expenses of daily running, such as salaries of public service, pensions, interest on public debt, prosperity and other allowances, no matter who owns the government, there is not a penny left in the treasury. Sovereign bonds were issued when the amount of debt was insufficient. When that was not enough, money was minted. That is where we went wrong under public financial management. The year 2022 is the last year audited with numerical data.
The maximum tax burden was imposed on the people that year. The maximum tax collected is 1,751 billion rupees. 1,265 billion rupees are spent on public service salaries and pensions. 72 as a percentage. 506 billion rupees for Samurdhi and other subsidies. Collected money is spent. When these are paid, there will be no money left for the government. An amount of 36 billion rupees is stuck as debt. 12 out of 36 sovereign bonds taken by the previous government. That is the biggest problem. By the year 2027, there will be a shortage of 3,911 foreign resources. 329 billion is agreed to be given to the International Fund. 600 billion will be given to the budget. 300 World Bank, A.D.B. Agreed to give 300. Parliament should talk about these things. If Parliament has the power over money, should we talk about cricket? What MP Siddharthan said is true. Countries around the world have stopped lending until the debt is restructured. There is no political solution to it. Hamilton has sued for non-payment of debts. The second tranche of the International Monetary Fund will be received next week. After receiving that, the debt will be restructured. After that, development activities can start again.
Locomotive carriages have always been borrowed. India has agreed to provide locomotives to us under the Indian Credit Lines. Steps have been taken to get 200 electric buses. Only one company came forward. Even if a Minister has the power, the Minister cannot work at will. 80 school buses have been brought. Lanka Ashok Leyland has brought these buses. I asked them to take these buses to the children. A bus now costs 90 million rupees. I told them to take the price of a bus at 50 million rupees. Engineers and technical officers did not approve it from the tenders. A year ago, 16 buses were brought. They are luxurious. A loss of 16 lakh rupees in one day. No matter who the Minister is, he cannot do that.
It is very difficult to manage. After changing the tire tender system and putting out a tender that everyone can submit to, many years later, they bought tires from another company that could run 8,000 kilometres more at 9,000 rupees less than the company that supplied tires continuously. Not only me but the entire Cabinet is against taking tires for less than 9,000 rupees. People who are looking at these think that they have been stolen. The one who tries to stop the corruption is chased. This mechanism is rotten. I have not given political appointments.
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