Opposition reacts

Opposition MPs yesterday criticised the 2022 budget claiming that it did not address any of the pressing issues faced by the public.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa:

The 2022 Budget is the beginning of Sri Lanka’s journey towards the Somalian situation. The Budget did not address any of the pressing issues faced by Sri Lankans. People were expecting a progressive Budget but this is a very reactionary Budget with a lot of austerity measures. There is no long or medium term plan to boost GDP growth or to ensure we will have food or energy security. The cost of living is unbearable. Country’s debt is at a critical level. None of these were addressed by this Budget. The President and his ministers often talk about the need to increase Foreign Direct Investments, but nothing was proposed by the Budget to attract foreign investors. The issues faced by farmers were not addressed. The purchasing power of Sri Lankans will drop.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake:

The Budget offers no solution to the shortage of goods or the soaring cost of living. When the government banned agrochemicals, it promised to compensate farmers for losses.

In the Budget there is no allocation to assist them.

The Finance Minister also said that he will not bring any supplementary estimates. So, the government lied to the farmers and this will be a severe blow to them.

The government expenses are at Rs. 5.2 trillion, the revenue is around Rs. 2.2 trillion. So the government will have to borrow over Rs. 3 trillion.

SJB MP Harsha de Silva :

This is one of the worst Budgets of post Independence Sri Lanka. The Budget did no address any of the important issues the country is facing. They increased taxes and that’s about it.