By Rathindra Kuruwita
The monthly income of the government was not enough to pay the salaries of its employees, pensions, etc., Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardana, said yesterday.Siriwardana said so at a meeting held at the Ministry about the new taxes that come into effect on 01 January.
“Right now, we make 145 billion rupees a month. We spend 93 billion to pay salaries. 27 billion for pensions and six billion for Samurdhi. We spend a few billion on other welfare activities. Ultimately, we spend about 154 billion rupees a month on salaries, pensions and welfare,” he said.
Given the serious economic pressure, Sri Lanka needs to carry out reforms and increase revenue. Siriwardana said that cutting down on salaries, pensions and welfare is not possible.
“Due to the economic problems, more people need state assistance. In fact, we have had to increase welfare spending. We need to increase revenue and the new taxes will help us greatly,” he added.