Former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday said that the country’s national income had declined by about LKR 600 billion, the lowest revenue recorded in the last seven decades, was recorded in 2020.
Addressing the media at the Freedom Hub in Colombo yesterday to launch a new organisation called ‘True Patriots’, the ex-Finance Minister said that the largest budget deficit since 1988 had been recorded in 2020.
“Last year, the Central Bank had to print the largest amount of money in a single year to cover the growing budget deficit. In addition, the amount of new loans obtained by the government for the year 2020 alone has increased by another Lankan Rs 2 trillion,” he said.