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| Sunday, 10 November 2002 |
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Politics |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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PA slates Budget by Deepal Warnakulasuriya, Asoka Wijewardena and P. Krishnaswamy Opposition political parties and trade unions are strongly critical of the 2003 Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister K.N. Choksy last week. But big business leaders welcomed it as a pragmatic. "The UNF Government's second Budget is a historic Budget since it has nothing for the public to ease their living conditions as the UNF promised", said Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse commenting on the Budget 2003. He also said that every possible effort had been taken to protect the rich and at the same time extra burdens had been given for the poor. Rajapakse said that it was a Budget about which the person who read it to the Parliament knew nothing, since it had been prepared by someone else according to the needs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He also predicted that accordingly new taxation system on retail sale shops since the prices of the essential items definitely will go up. Ronnie de Mel, a former Finance Minister said that the 2003 Budget has not paid attention to major areas like agriculture, power, transport, highways, irrigation and tourism. He further said: " What a Finance Minister should do is not to read a long report to the Parliament but capable of saying what are the future plans to develop the country and how finance should be utilised in the next year. |
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