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Gold worth of Rs.643bn pawned by people for loans: SJB

12 Nov 2020

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in Parliament today said the people have pawned gold worth Rs.643 billion for loans so far, an amount which is higher than the government’s income tax revenue. During the debate of the Appropriation Bill 2020, SJB MP Kabir Hashim said the government’s tax revenue has reduced to Rs.400 billion. “This shows how difficult it is for the people. On the other hand, the unpaid credit cards amount is 41% and this amount is Rs. 15.8 billion. However, the government keep saying that the country is functioning smoothly. If that’s the case, why people pawn this many gold?” MP Hashim asked. He said the government’s move to reduce income tax revenue was a shortsighted move. “The standard is that a government’s tax revenue should amounts to 20% from the GDP. We maintained this at 10 per cent but this government reduced it to less than 10%,” he said. The MP said the government has asked for a covering approval for expenditures it has already incurred by presenting the Vote on Account. “This has never happened before,” he said.


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