An academic claims a government plan to raise the debt ceiling of the state by Rs. 8,000 billion.
Peradeniya University’s economics and statistics professor Wasantha Athukorale said the motive was unclear.
He told Neth News however, the country’s debt burden would double within a very short period if that was done.
Meanwhile, ‘Anidda’ newspaper reported yesterday (23) the government was going to raise its borrowings and expenditure by Rs. 9,000 billion each, or by 285 per cent and 325 pc respectively.
An amendment to the appropriation bill in this regard was included in the House agenda on 20 July.
It proposes to raise the debt ceiling from Rs. 4,979 billion to Rs. 13,979 billion, and services expenditure from Rs. 4,222 billion to Rs. 13,222 billion.
Economic analyst Dhananath Fernando said the debt ceiling was being raised to pay interest for the borrowings that have already been made.
