Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara said that Sri Lanka has not taken any loans from any country after facing bankruptcy. He accused the Opposition of misleading the public by claiming that the country’s debt has increased despite knowing otherwise.
He said that a significant portion of Sri Lanka’s debt is in rupees, but its value fluctuates when it is in dollars. “Opposition politicians are exploiting this fluctuation to mislead the public.
The Minister was addressing the ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’ People’s Mobile Service District Mobile Service at the Danny Abeywickrama Stadium, Hakmana, Matara.
“After we went bankrupt, we have not taken a loan from any country. However, some politicians are publicly declaring that the debt has increased. They don’t understand that our debt fluctuates when our loans are in dollars.
They are doing this to mislead the people,” the Minister said.
Minister Nanayakkara said “In Parliament, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa questioned whether malnutrition is good or bad. Parents go abroad and send money so that children do not lack nutrition. When money was sent from abroad they were told not to do so because the Rajapaksas would steal it. Despite attempts to derail the country due to fuel, gas, medicine, food, drinks and education, our foreign workers did not believe the Opposition and sent 12 billion dollars out of love for their children and the country.”
This influx of money helped the people of Sri Lanka to find food and drink again. “Minister Kanchana Wijesekera helped bring down gas and fuel prices, and it was possible to get fuel to generate electricity,” he said.
Nanayakkara highlighted the importance of foreign remittances, “Their hope was that expatriate workers would stop sending money, and our factories would not have money to run, and the pressure caused by this would bring people to the streets. But due to the President’s decisions, we were able to strengthen our country again with the remittances of foreign workers.”
Drawing a comparison to South Korea, Minister Nanayakkara said, “After joining the IMF, Korea has become a country with a multi-billion dollar economy thanks to the strength of many huge businesses such as Samsung and Dow. At that time, people in Korea went abroad to find jobs. Those migrant workers helped build the economy of their country.”
He said, “The former President of Korea, President Roh Tae-woo, strengthened the rules for the progress of the country. Today, the export income of Korea is 670 billion dollars. Our export revenue is 12 billion dollars. In 1977, the open economy was introduced. Strikes were staged many times since the July 1980 strike. Every time we tried to build this country, there were protests by the JVP.”
The Minister said, “In Korea, they did not let the country slip backward by allowing strikes. Not only doctors and nurses here, but teachers have also taken part in strikes to disrupt school education.
The Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would not have had to resort to power cuts if he had been allowed to complete the Sampur and Norochcholai power plants. It was by opposing all these projects that our country could not move forward.”
Nanayakkara said the need is for decisive action, “Hong Kong and Singapore developed because of direct and fearless policies. We cannot move forward as a country if we do not make decisions through fear of protests and shouting.
“The President, who started by saying, ‘Let’s start with me,’ began with himself. The President started with him without considering the challenges to his politics. As the Cabinet of Ministers, we started by accepting that challenge. Government officials, Ministry Secretaries, and Governors accepted that challenge and now it’s time for citizens too to accept the challenge to move forward,” the Minister added.
