(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – The government is ready to provide a lot of relief to the people before the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said at the All Party Conference at the President’s House yesterday (23).
He said he was ready to present a new budget with the approval of the Cabinet as proposed at the All Party Conference.
The Minister of Finance stated that as a government that is well aware of the sufferings of the people in the face of the current economic crisis, it will not hesitate to provide maximum relief to the people.
Mr. Rajapaksa said that the government was paying attention to the proposal made regarding a relief package and that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already discussed the matter with the Minister of Trade.
He emphasized that the government was not ready to depend on anyone for energy and food, adding that it would soon become self-sufficient in renewable energy as well as food.
Mr. Rajapaksa said that for the first time in history, the country had to manage its debt, adding that the Cabinet had approved the appointment of a technical committee to discuss with the International Monetary Fund and a committee headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to select a suitable person to manage the debt.
Mr. Rajapaksa said that there were no suitable people in the country to manage the debt and that steps would be taken to make the process of selecting a suitable person transparent.
