President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation last Friday (25) did not address numerous issues facing the country, the United National Party said.
There are numerous problems facing the country, including the growing threat of COVID-19, the collapsing economy, fertilizer shortages, disruptions to schooling and the rising cost of living. The President did not address any of these concerns. He instead made excuses as to why he has been unable to solve these problems while avoiding explaining his failure to implement any of the promises made in his Manifesto, the UNP statement said.
At the time of the UNP handing over the Government in 2019, the country had US$7.6bn in foreign reserves, the UNP statement said. The Statement said that the country’s foreign reserves have fallen to less than US $4bn. This Government has no plan on how to increase reserves and deal with the pending loan repayments, it said.
“Under the UNP Government, the country enjoyed a primary surplus for the first time in 60 years in 2017 and 2018. As the Government was earning more than it was spending, the UNP was able to take loans for development projects without the concern of being unable to repay them.
The reversal by the President of the UNP’s economic policies have now meant that repaying these loans will be difficult”, the statement added.
“The President claimed that the economy has been well-managed during the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
If this is correct, why has he chosen to remove the powers from Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, under the 20th Amendment and empower Dr.P.B. Jayasundera to run the economy. Does the President not have faith in his own Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers?”