State Minister Semasinghe contradicts Minister Bandula Gunawardena

State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe has contradicted Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardena who claimed the government was facing problems in finding funds to pay public sector salaries and other social benefits.

Hours after Minister Gunawardena told the post-cabinet news conference that the Samurdhi payments would be delayed and that the government was finding it difficult to raise funds for other payments,  State Minister Semasinghe contradicted him by issuing a statement.

Minister Semasinghe said in a statement that government employee salaries, pensions, and welfare benefits will be prioritised in the management of government revenue and expenditure.

“The economic of the country is currently stable despite the ongoing economic crisis. But we have to admit that it is not yet possible to overcome the crisis completely. The full programme required to resolve the economic crisis is currently underway. Payments are provided from the Treasury for necessary priorities in order to manage government revenue and expenditure. There shouldn’t be anything to worry about,” he said.

“Furthermore, an orderly and efficient arrangement to settle the bills that are due from the government side for certain projects is currently under discussion with the relevant ministries,” the statement added.