The country’s top state official who made the appeal believes that the contribution will enable the government to service the debt and reduce the budget deficit.
According to the latest report by the Central Bank Sri Lanka’s foreign debt exceeds USD55 billion.
"The government needs nearly 1000 billion rupees every month to pay salaries and allowances in the public sector," said President’s Secretary P.B Jayasundera in a four-page letter addressed to all heads of public institutions.
He appealed to donate a month’s salary so that "the country’s May expenditure will go down and the income will go up enabling us to reduce the budget deficit."
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has rejected repeated calls by the opposition to reconvene the dissolved parliament in order to assist the government in fighting the hardships faced with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka asks public servants to hand back next month’s paycheck
Heavily burdened with mounting debt, Sri Lanka president’s office has requested public sector staff to hand back their next month’s salary.
