2019 tax amendments not the sole reason for economic crisis – Attygalle

By Saman Indrajith

It was unreasonable to claim that the country had lost nearly Rs. 500 billion due to the change in tax policies of the new government, Former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R Attygalle said at a meeting of the Committee on Public Finance held in Parliament June 08, under the chairmanship of Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.Attygalle said the revenue loss had been caused by import restrictions, including the suspension of the import of vehicles, and the economic contraction caused by the Covid pandemic.

The former Treasury Secretary said that those decisions, regarding tax policies, had been taken in keeping with the first Cabinet Paper presented by the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on 04 December 2019.Former Secretary to the President, Dr. P.B Jayasundara, former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle, former Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal, former members of the Monetary Board, current Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and other senior officials of the Central Bank were summoned before the Committee Meeting.

The Members of the Finance Committee were of the view that when a Cabinet Paper was presented, there should be a background note and a report on the subject matter and that the officials in charge of the subject should take responsibility for those documents.The Committee was of the view that decisions should have been taken after a thorough study by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.The Members of the Committee inquired whether any of the economists and professionals had submitted a report to the Monetary Board with regard to the monetary policy decisions taken by the political authority.

Former Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundara said that such decisions would be tabled in Parliament and then referred to Committees.Members of the Committee again asked whether the economists and professionals had informed their superiors of the incorrect policy decisions taken by the political authorities.The current Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said that responsible government officials should refrain from engaging in politics and that the difference between a politician and an official should be properly recognised. He said that it was the responsibility and duty of the officials to inform the politicians when they were not correct and the politicians alone were not responsible for the consequences of such decisions.

The Committee was told that although they had told the responsible officials and the then political authorities on various occasions about the possible side effects of such policies, no one had paid attention to them.The Chairman of the Committee Anura Priyadarshana Yapa MP emphasised that the relationship between the officials of the Central Bank and the Parliament should be enhanced and a proper communication process should be established when making important decisions pertaining to the country.

Accordingly, the Chairman of the Committee stated that the discussion would be held again on 17 June as further discussions were required in that regard.Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, M.A. Sumanthiran, Mujibur Rahuman, Dr. Suren Raghavan, Gamini Waleboda, Kanchana Wijesekera, Anupa Pasqual, Vijitha Herath, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, Indika Anuruddha, Isuru Dodangoda, Prof. Ranjith Bandara, Nalin Fernando and other officials were present at the committee meeting.