$9 bln has to be paid off as debt in next 2 years: PM

A committee comprising the President of the CA Sri Lanka, a member of the Monetary Board and another member, has been appointed to examine state accounts of the previous administration before it is submitted to the parliament finance committee

his was stated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chief Guest at the induction of the 24th President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, held at the Hilton Colombo last evening. He said the right of the parliament to control public finances had been forgotten earlier but was restored recently to report to the parliament on a daily and on a weekly basis so as to maintain transparency of the government.

"I started that when allegations of the bond transaction came in and referred them to a committee and to the COPE Committee and to the parliament's public finance committee. I shall also bring in legislation to the parliamentary debt office. "

The Prime Minister also said that they are meeting at a critical time of the country's economy when the private sector has a role to play in development work which the government cannot afford any more. He said that we have to move on to expand the economy and doubling of the GDP with the participation of the private sector to invest in tradable goods.

"The government is no longer capable of bearing the cost of large projects because of the high debt repayments which the last government had resorted to by way of high borrowing and now we are called upon to repay the loans."

He said as far as the treasury bonds, Sri Lanka Development bonds and international sovereign bonds are concerned a total sum of US$9 billion has to be paid within the next two years when the bonds mature.

"This is a tremendous amount to pay. We have found that over $ 4.5 billion worth of bonds has been raised from 2008 to 2014,” he said adding that both foreign and local investment was crucial for the country's development.

"We need small entrepreneurs to come up in the country." he said. Jagath Perera was inducted as the 24th President of CA Sri Lanka.