WEB DESK
Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that if the island nation sticks to the plan, it will rise out of bankruptcy by 2026. He added that the economy can be stabilised by obtaining the IMF package. While delivering the government’s policy statement at the Parliament yesterday, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he is ready to take unpopular decisions for the sake of the nation.
On the tax rate hikes, the president said that the country will set to lose 16,300 crore Lankan rupees if taxes are raised. He added that the revenue of currently stands at 8.15% of the GDP while his target is to increase it till 15%. He further said that if the current recovery continues, the government would be able to give additional allowances to public servants and concessions for the private sector in later half of the year. He hinted that through such measures incomes can be increased by 75 percent in another three years.
Mr. Wickremesinghe added that the measures adopted by his government have eased inflation from 70 per cent to 54 per cent. He expressed hope that he will strive to bring it to single digit by the end of 2023.
He informed the parliament that the forex reserves which had hit zero have reached 500 million dollars now. He said the local entrepreneurs had worked hard to increase exports to 13 billion dollars. He said that the tourism sector has also revived with over one lakh tourist arrivals in January.
Mr. Wickremesinghe also elaborated on the implementation of a plan for development of the northern part of the island. He said that considering several facts, devolution of power within a unitary state is expected.
He also said that special attention is being paid to the upcountry Tamil community as well. He said that discussion with MPs representing the plantation areas will yield solutions to the problems of the community. He said that plantation commun