This 15% hike in the electricity bill is happening in a country where 24.5% [of the population], that is one-fourth, are mired in poverty, and where 51% satisfy themselves by eating just two meals per day. [...] When this hike in the electricity bill has that kind of an impact […] The 51% who have two meals per day will turn into 51% who have just one meal per day.

It [medium-term fiscal framework] requires that we limit our primary expenditure [..] to 13% of the GDP. Even if it [revenue] increases, we cannot use that revenue for expenses. This is because, as per this IMF agreement that Hon. Anil Jayantha signed as the acting minister of finance, he acknowledges that the government expects to spend only 13%.

Today, after 5,6 years, our country has the largest dollar reserve.

Sri Lanka has a defence force equivalent to 3.47 per cent of its workforce. This figure is recorded at a lower level in the US. Accordingly, the defence sector of the US is 0.84 per cent of its workforce. In China, the figure is 0.33 per cent. In India, it is 0.58 per cent. In Indonesia, the figure is recorded as 0.49 per cent. In Australia, it is 0.44 per cent. In the South Asian region, Pakistan records the figure at 1.25 per cent. Thus, despite maintaining a large defence sector in relation to the workforce, it is the working people who also have to maintain it.

Usually, it is said that after any economic crisis, an output loss occurs in that particular country. A certain amount of time is needed to recover that loss and get back to normal. I believe that we will be able to reach that 2018 level next year or, at most, the following year.