State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyabalapitiya yesterday said that 225 Members in Parliament are also subject to taxes and they have not been exempted from taxes. He was speaking at a press conference at the Information Department yesterday.
He stressed that there is no other alternative for Sri Lanka than acting on the directives of the International Monetary Fund to get out of the present economic crisis.
“The Debt Restructuring Process is going to happen as part of the economic recovery programme and Sri Lanka will have to make some sacrifices.
Foreign nations will definitely consider how Sri Lanka can contribute to get out of this crisis when restructuring bilateral loans,” he said. He added that Sri Lanka will have to face a situation which is worse than the situation that existed in the country in June and July last year, if a deal with the IMF is not reached soon.
When the country defaulted on its debt and sought the assistance of an international organization to restructure debts, the directions given by that organisation need to be followed,” he said.
He said that inflation has decreased to some level after the policy decisions taken by the Central Bank. The increase in interest rate encouraged the people to make more savings than before.
