September, 22, 2023
Acting Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya stated that the inflation in Sri Lanka has decreased by 62.1% in the past one year due to the strong program of President Ranil Wickramasinghe to build the country's economy with many new reforms.
The minister also pointed out that inflation, which was 66.7% in the first and second quarters of 2022, has been reduced to 4.6% by the same period of 2023.
Acting Finance Minister Mr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya mentioned this while joining the news conference held today (21) at the Presidential Media Center under the theme 'One way to a stable country'.
Mr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya, who gave further comments, also said:
During the last one year, the government was able to increase the amount of foreign reserves of the country which was 1.8 billion dollars to 3.8 billion dollars.
By August 2022, we paid 361 rupees to the dollar. But by the month of August 2023, one dollar can be bought for 321 rupees. This is not an artificial control. It must be said that it is economically very important to allow the value of the rupee to float and bring it to this state according to the supply and demand of the dollar.
The deposit bank interest rate, which was 14% in 2022, has been reduced to 11%, and the loan interest rate, which was 15.5%, has been reduced to 12% this year. Last year the primary account deficit was -247 billion rupees. But by this year, it has been able to grow up to 27 billion rupees. It should be said that after 40 years this is a surplus in the primary account balance.
The arrival of tourists, which was 496,430 in 2022, has grown to 904,318 by the first two quarters of this year.
It is remarkable that tourism earnings will be 832.6 million US dollars in 2022, and it has grown to 1,304.5 million US dollars by the first two quarters of this year. It shows a growth of 56.7% compared to last year.
Also, the amount of money sent by Sri Lankans abroad to Sri Lanka in the last year is 2,214.8 million US dollars. It has become 3862.7 million US dollars this year. According to the Ministry of Finance data, it is a 74.4% increase compared to last year.
The QR code system was introduced on August 1, 2022 to control the demand for petroleum due to the lack of exchange. As a result, there was a huge gap between normal demand and supply. In June 2023, when the QR system was slightly relaxed, diesel consumption increased to 28% and petrol consumption increased to 83%. The QR code system that was imposed for fuel supply, which directly affects economic growth, was completely removed from September 1.
When President Ranil Wickremesinghe took over this country, there was a 14-hour power cut. It directly affects the economy. Currently, the current government has been able to provide continuous electricity supply to the people.
On August 23, 2023, 1467 types of imported goods were completely banned due to the shortage of foreign exchange. Currently, the ban is effective only for 279 items. The import of vehicles was stopped in 2020, but now buses and trucks needed for public transport have also been allowed to be imported.
By April 2022, we had become a country that could not pay its debts. We have now received the first installment under the International Monetary Fund's Extended Credit Scheme. As a whole, the government has been able to bring the economy of this country to a stable level compared to last year.
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