Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara made a slip in the House yesterday (7) when he called on the Deputy Minister of Finance and Government Revenue Ranjith Siyambalapitiya to open the Budget debate. He was than reminded by the Chief Opposite Whip, former Speaker Joseph Michael Perera that it was the Opposition that should start the Budget debate.

Speaker Lokubandara apologized and next called on UNP Colombo District Member Ravi Karunanayake to begin the debate.

Siyambalapitiya stopped speaking allowing the Opposition to begin the debate.

Ravi Karunanayake said the Budget had not addressed the real economic issues and did not have solutions to overcome the present financial crisis it was facing. It was an exercise in deception, hiding the real issues and problems. It did not have any consideration for the people and ignored the high inflation rate. Government debt had increased very much and the result was that the rupee had devalued by about 15 percent so that our real foreign debt would increase by that percentage. Therefore the projection and forecasts in the budget would become unrealistic.

Karunanayake said private sector employees were not given an increase in their salaries or any benefit to increase their earning capacity. That was why the UNP proposed an alternative budget to tell the people what should be done to cushion the high cost of living and increasing rate of inflation.

Deputy Minister of Finance and Govt. Revenue Ranith Siyambalapitiya said the UNP had referred to Supreme Court determination of two clauses in the Appropriation Bill and blamed the Government for the provision in the Bill to allow the Treasury to transfer funds from one Ministry to another. But it was the UNP that introduced that provision in the Appropriation Bill in 2003 allowing the Treasury that power.

The government, however, had made safeguards by including a clause that any funds so transferred should be supported by a Supplementary Estimate in Parliament within two months of the transfer of funds and the responsibility of such transfer was conferred on the Secretary to the Treasury, Deputy Secretary or the Director. But the UNP's appropriation bill did not contain such a transparent clause. However, the Government did not wish to disagree with the Supreme Court decision and would introduce the amendments to the Bill.

The budget was not an exercise like the speech of Ravi Karunanayake who seemed to be lost in some jungle. His alternative budget was only like a party manifesto lacking reality. When the UNP was in power it made plans to dissolve the government service by retrenching about 200,000 public servants and denying pension rights to them. Therefore the UNP had forgotten their past and member Karunanayake like a pensioner who had lost his way in the jungle was proposing high increases in salaries.

JVP Colombo District Member, Sunil Handunetti said the capital and recurrent expenditure of 26 Ministries had been reduced in budget 2009 but the provision under the President had been increased by 1,200 million rupees. The intention of the Budget was to give benefit only to the President and his family.

The government had introduced import duty and Cess on wheat flour, sugar and milk powder but the steps necessary to increase the production of milk, sugar or maize had not been taken. Therefore the budget was only an exercise in trying to earn more revenue but not to develop indigenous industry, enterprises or agriculture. Therefore the JVP would oppose the Budget, he said.