The general secretary of the party, Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam, said that a country taking loan money and consuming it is not a reason for the development of that country or the nation and we should use that money to invest. Joining the news conference held on (2023.04.17).
Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam, Member of Parliament, an attorney at law,
“After independence, we as a country sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund 16 times. We have already received the support of the International Monetary Fund for the 17th time. If you think that the problems of the countries will be solved only by receiving the support of the International Monetary Fund, I think that there are many examples in the world that the countries will not develop just because of the support from the International Monetary Fund.
The main reason for this is that when we as a country took a loan from the International Monetary Fund or other institutions, we took that loan money and used it for the consumption of the people of the country. If a country borrows money and consumes it, it is not due to the development of the country or the nation.
So we should get rid of this consumption and use it for investment. We think that as a country, only the decades of 2005 and 2015 are mentioned in history as the time when our country took foreign loans and made investments in the country with those loans. Because in other times we have spent most of the borrowed money for the consumption of the people and not for the investment of the country.
Now once again we are motivated to get the support of the International Monetary Fund under the circumstances. Recently, we have been trying to see if it is possible to move this country forward and develop it without taking more loans. But some wrong decisions we took at that time affected. If we as a country go for a strict economic policy at this time, we will be able to recover as a country by saying that this money will be used for investment.
But if we use this money for consumption, it will happen again after another 04 to 05 years, we will fall into this usual problem again due to a bad balance of payments. Therefore, we will not invest in such a program, but the time has come to invest in investment opportunities. But as of now, we see only the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna as a party that presents such a policy.
It does not appear that any other party will present such a policy to the country, a Very sad situation. If we want to move forward as a country, all parties should come together to get rid of this consumption situation and turn to an investment pattern in the minds of the people, we will be able to move forward as a country.” he said.
