Ex-banker Eran reveals nakedness of the budget

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne told Parliament that although the 2023 Budget presented to Parliament by President Ranil Wickremeisnghe is full of nice words, lofty ideals and concepts there is no single practical plan outlined in those proposals on how to realize them.

Participating in the second reading debate on the 2023 budget, MP Wickramaratne said that when listening to the budget speech people may have wonderful dreams as if they are flying over the stars but at the end of that speech only they realize that the country has further been pushed into an abyss.

Wickramaratne said that the country was bankrupt. This is a country with no debt sustainability. The economy is contracting at a large negative rate. Budget deficit is more than 10 per cent. Inflation is more than 60 per cent. Food inflation is 100 per cent and the rupee has depreciated by more than 80 per cent.

Inflation is promised to be brought under a single digit. It is promised to increase the government revenue to 15 per cent of the GDP from its present position of 8 per cent. How it would be done is anybody’s guess. It is also envisaged to bring the primary balance from a negative value to a positive value. In the past 74 years, the primary balance of this country has had a positive value only five times. That we witnessed in 2017 and 2018. When the income increased more than the expenditure, it’s called positive in primary balance and through the primary balance, we can pay the loan interest with our revenue money. If not, we have to take out a loan even to pay the loan interest. The most hilarious aspect of these proposals is the promise to achieve all these goals by 2025.  A budget presents plans usually for the work to be done in the next year. But this government is giving the target of 2025. This is nothing but a dream budget, Wickramaratne said.