Despite debt servicing burden,Govt allocated funds for health and education: PM Wickremesinghe

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that despite the heavy debt servicing commitments faced by the  government, it was able to still  allocate substantial funds towards education and the health sector.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Accident Unit at the Jaffna Teaching hospital today (Feb 14), he said that several health facilities which were available only overseas were now available in Sri Lanka.

“This is just the beginning of getting more specialised services into Sri Lanka” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe noted that since the opposition was nothing left to accuse the government of  it is instead claiming that the government is attempting to divide the country.

“When we took over the government the biggest problem was the debt. This year alone we would be paying USD 6500 million for debt servicing,” he said pointing out that despite this burden, allocating funds towards the health and education sector were a priority.

Speaking further, the Prime Minister said that the government had also cancelled the micro-finance loans of 45, 000 women who were unable to repay loans. The loan amount in total amounted Rs 100,000 

“The people who obtained the loans have been affected by three or four droughts and do not have the income capability to repay them” Mr Wickremesinghe added.