Ranil warns Govt will not be able to draw funds after April 30

United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe warns that the Government will not be able to legally draw any funds after April 30.

Issuing a special statement, Mr Wickremesinghe states that while the Government has so far failed to present a combined plan to combat the virus's spread in the country, it is also in serious danger of plunging the entire country into a massive financial crisis. 

He notes that monies from the Consolidated Fund can only be drawn with the approval of Parliament. The House has already approved a VoA that permits the Government to draw monies from this fund from January 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020. Accordingly, there is no issue in obtaining funds up until April 30. 

"As per the Constitution, the President cannot spend funds that are outside the scope of the VoA during this period. Moreover, there are no provisions to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund after April 30," Mr Wickremesinghe argues. 

He adds that Article 150(3) clearly stipulates the powers vested with the President to draw monies from the Consolidated Fund during the period Parliament stands dissolved. Article 150(3) states:

"Where the President dissolves Parliament before the Appropriation Bill for the financial year has passed into law, he may, unless Parliament shall have already made provision, authorize the issue from the Consolidated Fund and the expenditure of such sums as he may consider necessary for the public services until the expiry of a period of three months from the date on which the new Parliament is summoned to meet."

Accordingly, the Government cannot draw funds for any purpose from April 30 until the new Parliament convenes, but with the parliamentary election now postponed indefinitely, there is uncertainty on when a new Parliament will be able to convene. 

"As such, the Government will not be able to draw any funds after April 30. It will face a huge crisis, from not being able to pay the salaries of Government Servants to being unable to keep health services that are essential for fighting the Coronavirus," Mr Wickremesinghe further says. 

He notes that he called for an urgent meeting of Party Leaders knowing the gravity of this situation and adds that it is unfortunate that the Government had failed to respond to this request even after one week.

"I would like to remind those responsible that we can only overcome these situations by giving priority to safeguarding the country, instead of looking to obtain political advantages," he concludes. wa