
"Rating agencies have downgraded Sri Lanka following recent measures of the government," Withanage pointed out.
He added that many lending agencies are demanding a risk payment be made in addition to loan installments and interest payments. Withanage further claimed that there is a risk to Samurdhi payments and government salaries due to the major income loss to the treasury. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s new government slashed the VAT rate from 15 per cent to 8 per cent, and introduced a rage of tax concessions in November last year. The Government says tax cuts is expected to be largely offset by action taken to eliminate unproductive current expenditures and revenue generated through the boom in the economy as a result of such concessions. However, the government has not officially communicated the loss of revenue to the treasury as a result of the tax cuts.