{"id":44250,"date":"2015-11-29T19:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T23:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=44250"},"modified":"2015-11-29T19:02:14","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T23:02:14","slug":"mahinda-rajapaksa-blasts-budget-as-one-that-would-destroy-the-economy-and-outlines-six-most-harmfulbudget-proposals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=44250","title":{"rendered":"Mahinda Rajapaksa Blasts Budget as one that Would “Destroy the Economy ” and Specifically Outlines Six “Most Harmful”Budget Proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday criticised the Unity Government over its maiden Budget saying it was full of catastrophic proposals that would destroy the economy whilst claims of higher expenditure on education were not true either.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expressing his views at a media conference held at the Narahenpita Abayarama, Rajapaksa listed six specific proposals which in his opinion were \u201cmost harmful\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rajapaksa said that despite an attempt to create an impression of a populist budget with reductions in the price of gas and several foodstuffs and lower income tax rates, \u201cthe budget as a whole is guaranteed to drag the country backwards.\u201d \u201cThe Achilles heel of this Government is fiscal and external sector management, which has placed the entire country on a ticking fiscal and balance-of-payments time bomb,\u201d warned the former President. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe gross fiscal irresponsibility displayed in the mini-budget earlier this year has continued in this budget as well,\u201d he charged. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa alleged that since the change of Government there has been a palpable downturn in the economy. He also said that no responsible Government would project a near 40% increase in tax revenue. \u201cThe projected 300% increase in non-tax revenue in 2016 is obviously from the sale of the earmarked government-owned entities which means there will be a sharp increase in non-tax revenue in 2016 and virtually nothing thereafter,\u201d claimed Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Budget provides extensive concessions to foreigners, it places considerable burdens on the ordinary people,\u201d former President said adding that he was totally opposed to the proposal to allow land to be given on long leases to foreigners without the taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo true member of the SLFP or progressive UPFA member can support this unbridled liberalism that makes our nations dependent on the West for survival,\u201d Rajapaksa said. <\/p>\n

During the press conference former President said he was totally opposed to privatisation of profitable state enterprises saying the present Government was \u201cinsatiable thirst for quick cash\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cForemost among the budget proposals that I am unable to agree with is the sweeping program of privatisation,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish to remind this government that the people of this country have not given their approval for any privatisation of these assets and on that basis, I wish to caution possible acquirers of such state assets, that a future government will not hesitate to vest the ownership of such assets in the people once again,\u201d warmed Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

He is also opposed to bringing new recruits to the government service under a contributory pension scheme from 2016 onwards. \u201cThe pension is a privilege that the government servants enjoy and it should continue. My Government wanted to create a completely new contributory pension fund for private sector workers, but without amalgamating or in any way touching the existing EPF or ETF,\u201d said Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

Opposing the proposal to liberalise the import of cheap tea to be blended and re-exported, the former President said: \u201cThis will cause an immediate decline in the demand for locally produced tea. Hundreds and thousands of small holders and estate workers depend on the production of tea in this country.\u201d
\nOn the other hand he said solutions have to be found for problems like the high cost of production and low productivity without destroying the tea industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also opposed to the phasing out of the fertiliser subsidy and the free school uniforms by issuing vouchers and giving cash grants instead of the fertiliser and the cloth,\u201d Rajapaksa said noting both these could be categorised as production subsidies. \u201cThese are not consumption subsidies. The fertiliser subsidy had a lot to do with making the country self sufficient in rice,\u201d Rajapaksa added.<\/p>\n

Focusing on expenditure proposals, the former President said: \u201cIt is with profound disappointment that I also note the fraudulent manner by which the Government has tried to convey the impression of increased spending on education.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said that although Rs. 186 billion has been allocated for education in 2016, two-thirds of this amount is taken up by just one item – Capital Carrying Cost of Government Lands & Buildings – which means the year\u2019s value of the government buildings and lands used for education. He said one cannot consider the present value of what had been built with past allocations to be an \u2018expenditure\u2019 item for the coming year.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday criticised the Unity Government over its maiden Budget saying it was full of catastrophic proposals that would destroy the economy whilst claims of higher expenditure on education were not true either. Expressing his views at a media conference held at the Narahenpita Abayarama, Rajapaksa listed six specific proposals which …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Blasts Budget as one that Would “Destroy the Economy ” and Specifically Outlines Six “Most Harmful”Budget Proposals’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44253,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44250\/revisions\/44253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}