Govt. is going bankrupt, says UNP. devaluation of the rupee soon with 17 other conditions.

Govt. is going bankrupt, says UNP


By Yohan Perera

The Government is so bankrupt that the foreign reserves currently available would be sufficient only for one month’s imports and the IMF bailout package will materialize only if the Government fulfils the 17 conditions stipulated, the main opposition UNP said yesterday.

The party alleged that one of these conditions is the devaluation of the rupee which would result in the cost of living going up by 50%.

UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella told a media conference yesterday that the US $ 4 billion is needed to meet the Government expenses but there is only $ 1 billion available which means the Government is short of $ 3 billion to meet immediate financial commitments.

Explaining the present situation in the economy he said the current account deficit had risen to US 2.2 billion in 2009 while debt servicing commitment for the year would be $1 billion He said an additional amount of US $ 800 million has to be paid to private banks as per the oil hedging agreement.

He said the so-called patriotic government has become a betrayer of the nation by making the economy bankrupt. “The very people who accused the UNP government of betraying the nation when it accepted the US $ 4 billion offered by various donors as an outright grant, have betrayed the nation today,” he said.

“Government is begging for this bailout package from the very IMF which it chased out of the country in 2006,” he alleged.

He explained that the Government has decided to accept the IMF loan facility as commercial banks have refused to provide any more loans while the Diaspora Bonds which were introduced last year had come to a cropper. He disclosed that the Government has managed to raise only Rs. 17 million from the Diaspora Bonds.

He said the party would raise this matter in Parliament next week and would summon the Central Bank Governor as well as he owes an explanation to the people on the situation.