The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, this may be my last chance to speak in this Budget debate of the National People’s Power Government. Since my friend, Minister Handunnetti, is here, I must recall: in late 2006 we, with you as part of that Government, critiqued the economic policy under Dr. P. B. Jayasundera as Secretary. I often came to your HQ on Pagoda Road; we discussed many things. We warned that without a home-grown strategy, we would face grave difficulty. To carry that message, we published the Sinhala translation of John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” and launched it at Galle Face Hotel with talks by me, Hon. Wimal Weerawansa, and, as I recall, entrepreneur W. K. H. Wegapitiya, forecasting Sri Lanka’s fate — which has now come true.

¶ 02 I do not blame the NPP Government for the present situation. From time to time, we blessed different governments, trying to do our best, but missed chances to build a domestic economy. Finally, I helped elect President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, but within days he appointed P. B. Jayasundera — whom I had long called an economic hit man — as his Secretary, and together with Basil Rajapaksa, they continued the economic destruction. The people therefore decided to give power to the NPP to try something new. Yet, as you said, what we have inherited is the “baby” carried across the rope bridge by Ranil Wickremesinghe — and despite many lifelines, you still cling to him.

¶ 03 Summarising this Budget: it is not practical — neither income nor expenditure. You expect a 24% increase in tax revenue to Rs. 4.6 trillion; where from? You expect 40% more from domestic taxes and 60% from external sources. You also target Rs. 340 billion from Import Duty and VAT on vehicle imports. These are not practical.

¶ 04 Sixty percent of revenue will go to interest payments; we must do everything else with the remaining 40%. I therefore urge you to be honest with the people about the grim reality. A very difficult period lies ahead.

¶ 05 As an Opposition, our duty is to go beyond criticism and engage constructively. I earlier proposed that we need a home-grown and creative solution. With your party’s blessing, I created the “Maubima Lanka Foundation” under the “Ganna Ape De” (Buy Local) concept. The message was to produce and consume our own, and reduce dependence on imports. Sadly, that momentum faded. My concern with your Budget is that we are merely following IMF dictates rather than crafting our own creative approach.

¶ 06 You allocate about Rs. 35 billion to entrepreneurship development, but as an election-year Budget there are many populist allocations, despite knowing we are heading into a pit. We must, across parties and colours, find creative solutions. I propose an “Entrepreneurial State” — not just producing entrepreneurs, but a State of entrepreneurial mindset: think creatively, go beyond old habits, and take calculated risks.

¶ 07 Please rethink this Budget and infuse creativity to revive Sri Lankan entrepreneurship. Empower people with motivation and capital. Your “Prosperous Country – Beautiful Life” book outlines support to micro, small, medium, and large enterprises. By March 31, among 300,000 entrepreneurs, about 280,000 facing parate execution will fall into ultimate hardship unless you act — jeopardising your tax targets. They provide over 2.5 million jobs. Without saving them, how do we move forward?

¶ 08 We must go to the village. Due to microfinance, over 20,000 women are in extreme distress, with over Rs. 100 billion in loans from non-bank financial institutions; two entities account for over 60% of lending. Many women are in utter despair; more than 190 suicides have occurred. We in the Opposition can help by winning some local authorities, developing villages, making them self-sufficient, establishing people’s councils, generating capital, and empowering Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs to withstand the looming economic calamity.

¶ 09 The “Aswesuma” welfare grants as currently given are ineffective; ad hoc doles of Rs. 1,000–3,000 bring no real relief. Welfare must target the most needy with adequate support, but to do that we must create wealth — by elevating Sri Lankan entrepreneurship. That requires a creative State. I stand ready to help you infuse such creativity.

¶ 10 The Government expects exports to rise to US$ 18–19 billion. From where? Every sector is contracting. Construction is dust; large projects are foreign-led EPCs with little local value-add. Coconut oil factories are being sold as scrap. This Budget is conventional. From the days we argued in your office against P. B. Jayasundera to now, nothing has changed: the same horizontal and vertical line items. We must think outside them. Our people expect solace someday. When will Sri Lankan women get the chance to thrive?

¶ 11 Your Budget says so many are poor and extremely poor — when will we lift them? Otherwise, foreigners get rich, and Sri Lankans pay the price due to wrong decisions and an overreliance on Western prescriptions rather than our indigenous thinking. Look at India — their leaders believe in indigeneity and entrepreneurship. We have no quarrel with the new NPP Government; if you can bring comfort to the suffering people through a creative path, that is what we want.

¶ 12 Finally, I appeal: Sri Lankan entrepreneurs are not thieves. If they falter, it is due to the system. I feared that after I am gone, the “antigen” scandal talk would surface; your Health Minister has clearly said there was no fraud — I cite it only as an example. Under the Yahapalana Government, 714 Sri Lankan entrepreneurs were hauled before the FCID led by the then Secretary to Hon. Ananda Wijepala (our current President at that time headed it). Do not look at entrepreneurs through that lens. If anyone has erred, proceed under the law; but our discussion must be: how to celebrate and support Sri Lankan entrepreneurship. Thank you.