COLOMBO:In a hard-hitting speech,Harsha De Silva told parliament, reacting to Finance Minister Ali Sabry’s speech.said it is disturbing to note that the country has only $ 50 million foreign reserves which is hardly enough to unload oil from a vessel.
“ Minister Sabry made a massive revelation by stating that we possess only a mere USD 50 mn, while also highlighting the urgent need of USD 4 billion to keep the country functioning. We cannot even offload a fuel ship with USD 50 mn, thus where will we find this money to keep us afloat? Our beloved neighbor, India has already committed almost USD 5 billion. Asian Clearing Union (ACU) payments alone amount to roughly USD 200 mn a month, a total of USD 2.5 bn a year. In addition to another USD 1 bn to import food and medicine as well as USD 500 mn for fuel and USD 400 as a currency swap.
“ We hear that President Gotabaya has written to the Japanese Prime Minister requesting some money, while extending his deep regret in scrapping the LRT project.It is critical that we receive these funds from Japan, as they are the only option we have left.
Contrary to statements made by former Ministers such as Cabraal who stated that we will receive funds from the Middle East and various other countries, ultimately, it is only Japan that we have left. Sri Lanka will come to a complete standstill if we do not find these urgent funds.”
The Minister of Finance, Hon. Ali Sabry, stated that the reluctance to go to the IMF much earlier was a grave mistake, in addition to the massive tax cuts and delayed depreciation of the rupee.
Today, these same Ministers act as if they are reborn. It is unfortunate that we did not make the right decisions at the time, as our debt was sustainable then, currently our debt is deemed unsustainable, thus the IMF is unable to provide us with any Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
This economic crisis has hit people across the board, indiscriminately of their social classes. Our middle class, in particular, has been hit severely although they would not discuss this in public due to embarrassment. Households are discussing how they can cut their expenses and utilize their diminished savings to fund their normal day-to-day activities.
Today’s newspapers revealed that the Cabinet has decided to provide Rs. 7500 to all Samurdhi recipients, although I would like to highlight that this is purely insufficient. This cash transfer should be extended to all families living on and below the poverty line, as they are all facing hardships. It ought to be a universal cash transfer system to ensure adequate coverage, opposed to targeted schemes such as Samurdhi that are politicized.
According to a World Bank report, 60 percent of the population that ought to receive Samurdhi benefits are not recipients, while 60 percent who are undeserving are recipients. Thus, I urge the government not to politicize these cash transfers, as the majority of our population is struggling to make ends meet, and make these payments available to all.
