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Economic woes facing the country took centre stage in Parliament this week with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe cautioning that the rapidly changing global scenario could impact the country, but there was no need for people to tighten their belts as yet. However, the problems for Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka seem far from over, with a “No Confidence” motion against him being handed over this week, the second in less than six months.

The motion, signed by 37 MPs of the joint opposition group was handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Thursday, accusing the Minister of mishandling the economy, and seeking an early date to debate the motion. The same group handed in a “No Confidence” motion against Minister Karunanayaka last November, soon after he presented the Budget, but after the Appropriation Bill was passed with a majority in the House, the Speaker ruled there was no validity in debating that motion.

While the Budget presented by the Finance Minister last November has undergone many amendments since then, it was the Prime minister who explained to the House the rationale behind the changes introduced from time to time.

“We cannot predict what the global situation will be like tomorrow. A barrel of oil had dropped to US$ 20 when I last spoke, and now it has risen to US$ 40. So we have to bring amendments to the Budget as the global situation emerges, and if necessary, we will tell the people to tighten their belts,” the Prime Minister said.

His comments came during a two-day adjournment debate on the state of the country’s economy, moved by Chief Opposition Whip JVP MP Anura Dissanayaka who said the Government, while asking the people to tighten their belts, was not doing enough to ease the economic burden on the public.

However, much of the two-day debate turned out to be a lot of bashing of the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa by Government MPs, while those on the other side said that this Government could learn from the way in which the previous regime handled the economy, recording a high growth even when the global economy was on the decline and oil prices had hit record high.

Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Minister Gayantha Karunathilake who joined the debate, said it was the bad economic policies of the previous regime that has placed the country in the present mess.

“When President J.R. Jayewardene was elected in 1977, his government implemented the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project to increase electricity generation by twofold. But what has the Mahinda Rajapaksa government done? They built ports where ships don’t come, airports where planes don’t land and stadiums where games are not played,” he said.

UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena defended the previous regime’s handling of the economy saying there were proper fiscal policies in place then, and it was since this government took over things have got muddled and people are being burdened with taxes, while their income remains the same and the cost of living is rising daily. The Finance Minister should resign, given the state of the economy since he took over,” the UPFA MP said.

Minister Karunanayaka said the Government has had to obtain local and foreign loans to pay back counted and hidden debts of the previous regime. He said around 89.9% of the Government’s debt burden was from the previous administrations.
With several finance Bills to increase taxes up for debate in Parliament in April, the Finance Minister and the Government are likely to face more heat from their opponents in Parliament. And while the Government has so far not asked people to tighten their belts, the increasing costs of goods and services will also add to the economic woes of the people in the forthcoming festive season.