Sri Lanka aims to limit budget deficit and reduce inflation rate

Although proper finance management and economic policies have brought down the budget deficit and the inflation, the Sri Lankan government said it aims to further reduce the deficit and achieve a moderate inflation.
Deputy Finance Minister and Senior Minister of International Monetary Cooperation Sarath Amunugama said the main objective of the government is to limit the budget deficit and reduce the inflation rate and due to the proper finance management of the President the budget deficit has been minimized and the inflation has dropped. Addressing a function to inaugurate a People's Bank Service Centre at the Kandy District Secretariat premises yesterday Minister Amunugama has said that last year the budget deficit was 6.5 percent of the Gross National Product and next year the government aims to reduce it to 5.6 percent through proper management. He explained that high inflation is a tax on the poor and therefore the government must try and reduce inflation and stabilize the prices of commodities. "My personal opinion is that it is far better to reduce inflation than raising wages," Minister Amunugama said. He further pointed out that the country has a fiscal deficit of Rs. 500 billion and the government needs to promote the habit of saving to bring that down.