Questioning whether the public wants to see the rupee fall to Rs. 370 or Rs. 400 against the dollar again, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka now needs to strengthen the rupee and create jobs.
President Wickremesinghe pointed out that it was essential to solidify the economic stability achieved at present and that the government’s goal is to ease the burden on people’s lives.
“Over the past two years, as the rupee strengthened, we saw a decline in commodity prices. My focus is on further strengthening the rupee and increasing our gross domestic product,” he said.
The Present emphasized that these efforts are crucial to reducing the tax burden and making life more manageable for everyone.
“Anura and Sajith claim they will reduce taxes. But when taxes are reduced, government revenue declines. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did the same, and as a result, people ended up in long queues. Do we really want to see the rupee fall to 370 or 400 against the dollar again? I say to them: stop making false promises,” he added.
Stating that what Sri Lanka needs now is to strengthen the rupee and create jobs, the President said that even though no new jobs have been provided over the last four years, the government is committed to creating 100,000 jobs in the coming year.
“We are focusing on the private sector and self-employment, sending personnel to private companies while providing training wages. These initiatives are designed to incentivize companies to retain these employees,” he said.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe made these remarks while addressing the “Puluwan Sri Lanka” victory rally held at the Dompe bus stand on Sunday (Sep 01). (Newswire)