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| Wednesday, 11 June 2003 |
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| PA rejects Govt comments by Uditha Kumarasinghe The People's Alliance yesterday totally rejected the comments made by the Government that it (Government) has received grants totalling US $ 4 billion at the Tokyo donor conference. At least 90 per cent or even more of these US $ 4 billion are direct loans which have to be paid back by the people of this country, PA Media Spokesman Dr. Sarath Amunugama told a media briefing yesterday. "If we get this money, the total GDP of this country will not be enough to repay the annual instalments. As a result of this pledged loan, every man, woman and child in Sri Lanka who are presently each indebted for a sum of Rs.73,000 will be further indebted to the tune of Rs.95,000," he said. "For an example,the ADB has pledged US $ one billion. These are banks which are giving money on concessionary terms. The ADB is giving money for which every cent of the interest should be repaid. The World Bank has pledged US $ 800 million for which every cent has to be paid back with interest," he said. Amunugama said Japan has granted the highest amount of money (US $ 1 billion) to Sri Lanka. There is a special reason for Japan to offer this money. At present, the long-term bonds of Japan has dropped to zero point. Presently Japan offers 6 per cent for 20 year bonds. They have pledged money to Sri Lanka at 4 per cent interest. Therefore, providing this money to Sri Lanka is to the best of Japan. However, the PA is very pleased about the speech made by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Tokyo conference. After a very long time, the Premier has recognised the role of the President and has been full of praise for her. "We hope to make a full statement at the next PA press briefing of our response to the Prime Minister's speech. The PA says that these are not grants, the grant aid component is very little. These are loans which will make the country indebted and lead it fully into the debt trap. Amunugama said "in the PA discussions with the JVP, we are working out an alternative model of development. We need money, but we want to emphasise on the National Economy. We want to emphasise the role of the farmers, the domestic agricultural sector, Sri Lankan exports, the commercial agricultural sector, fisheries and local industries etc. |
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