Deceiving and being deceived has led the country to its tragic situation in recent times, said opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.
He asked if what is going to be celebrated at a time when the country is in a massive abyss is actually because it is free of bankruptcy, or due to some other reason.
The country had nothing to celebrate due to the triple tragedies of the Easter Sunday attacks, coronavirus pandemic and economic bankruptcy, said Premadasa.
He was speaking after donating smart classroom equipment to Maduluwawe Sobhitha Vidyalaya in Padukka today (25).
As per 2023 statistics, the country owes 92 billion US dollars of foreign debt to bilateral, multilateral and private creditors, to which unpaid interest of 1.6 billion USD more is added, he said.
In this situation, a certain agreement is reported to be signed with bilateral creditors, which is just part of the total debt, he said.
Also, foreign commercial debt remains to be paid back.
"We can celebrate only if the people reap more benefits and suffer minimum damage from debt restructuring, but instead the EPF fund of the working people has been affected and the super wealthy is being protected," Premadasa charged.
He urged the Central Bank to place correct statistics before the people without deceiving them.
