{"id":229566,"date":"2022-10-19T21:52:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=229566"},"modified":"2022-10-26T04:11:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T22:41:03","slug":"continuing-corruption-begging-imf-increasing-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/continuing-corruption-begging-imf-increasing-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuing Corruption: Begging IMF: Increasing Taxes\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>By <a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Sunil+J.+Wimalawansa\">Sunil J. Wimalawansa<\/a> &#8211;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_226594\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-pillows-to-cure-headaches-what-led-to-the-current-economic-crisis-in-sri-lanka\/sunil-wimalawansa-2020a\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-226594\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-226594\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-226594\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sunil-Wimalawansa-2020A-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sunil-Wimalawansa-2020A-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sunil-Wimalawansa-2020A-45x45.jpg 45w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sunil-Wimalawansa-2020A.jpg 181w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-226594\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prof Sunil J. Wimalawansa<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Part 30: <\/b><b>Sri Lanka\u2014<a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Changing+Pillows+to+Cure+Headaches\">Changing Pillows to Cure Headaches<\/a>:\u00a0<\/b><b>Continuing Corruption\u2014Begging IMF\u2014Increasing Taxes<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Parliamentarians are comfortable with the status quo because it allows them to abuse power and pilfer public resources and assets.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Consequently, they have zero interest in changing the current System.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Therefore, the burden is on people to make that happen.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is time for people to focus on an affirmative strategy plan to replace the current lot in the parliament through democratic means.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>To achieve this goal, the root cause ruining Sri Lanka\u2014the corrupt and rotten political system\u2014must be eliminated by replacing the rotten 1977 constitution with a new one.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>A tangible System change that the public is looking for will never happen through constitutional amendments.<\/p>\n<p>The combination of corruption, appointing incompetent people to higher positions, poor policies, and harmful laws led to the current socio-economic and political crises and bankruptcy in Sri Lanka.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>In April 2022, Aragalaya initiated the process to change this wretched system.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>There is no other option but to continue it till the replacement of the Constitution in Sri Lanka. The following video provides some information<b> <\/b>on the status of Aragalaya at that time. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oJFUdoP5hp8\" width=\"900\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Getting rid of corruption, bad politicians, and the rotten constitution<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Politicians and government administrators engaged in corrupt business practices under cover of parliamentary privileges and the constitution and taking the judiciary hostage.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>These formally opened floodgates for corruption: daylight robberies by politicians with the aid of senior administrators.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>To overcome this, Sri Lanka needs to replace its current constitution, tainted with perilous amendments for the country: to replace it with one that has no loopholes for corruption. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In addition to the ability to recall dysfunctional and destructive politicians at every level, the new constitution must include provisions that future politicians cannot change these concepts and positions with amendments or referendums (i.e., permanent change). <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In parallel with pilfering resources by politicians by various means, the accumulating recent past evidence substantiates the provision of large sums of money and material to a proscribed terrorist organisation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The latter was said to involve\/carry out politically motivated murders and other crimes.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>At times some of these were initiated by politicians to win elections and to stay in power.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>However, to date, none of these culprits has been brought to justice.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>A couple of examples are discussed in the following video:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qgd7fj8uduc\" width=\"900\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><b>Politicians systematically created bankruptcy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The same crooked politicians who created the bankruptcy are currently in parliament and their accomplices are bureaucrats in departments and secretarial positions continuing to be in the government.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Although hiding behind smoke screens, these co-conspirators are also accountable for these financial crimes against the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Despite evidence from various committees over the past few years, hardly anyone has been made accountable or brought to justice. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Not surprisingly, the public is highly concerned about how those who created this massive fiscal deficit could fix the financial calamity.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>This scenario is not different from putting in charge of a fox on a flock of chickens.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Despite the bankruptcy, the administration is still attempting to borrow money, sometimes through backdoors, to earn commissions.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Fortunately, traditional lenders are now more cautious than ever before.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Fraudulent Ponzi schemes of hazardous borrowing for commission<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Haphazard borrowing to gain commissions outside debt restructuring will worsen the situation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>While the needed changes are overdue and unpalatable to the populous, firm policies for the benefit of Sri Lanka are needed to reverse the current negative trend worsening the bankruptcy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The most crucial step\u2014significant reduction of the out-of-control government spending\u2014is yet to materialise: Why? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Is it due to continuing incompetence of the administration, a strategy to stay in power at any cost, or looking or politicians looking for more avenues to steal money from the public coffers by dragging the misery? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The question is whether the IMF, European Union, the USA, and the UK would continue to allow local politicians to play the same game or would they prevent locals from robbing the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>There is a suggestion that tactically delaying agreeing with the IMF and other potential donors on debt restructuring is to prolong the time for local politicians to embezzle more funds, sell local assets to foreigners, and transfer funds out of the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>If this is the case, isn\u2019t that also a financial crime that harm the country?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Going to IMF is not the same as getting funded:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As part of advising, restructuring the debt, and funding, the IMF would undoubtedly mandate to impose of a chain of austerity measures, monetary discipline, transparency, restrictions on improper governmental spending, and measures to increase productivity and internal review collections.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Going to the IMF after months (in fact, more than a year) of procrastination was not a decision made by the current president, but it became inevitable from the pressure outside.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The IMF\u2019s involvement should facilitate debt restructuring and implementations to reduce expenses and increase production and exports.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>However, except for bickering and enacting unnecessary laws to protect politicians (some of whom should be in jail), none of those mentioned above have happened.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Even when materialized, it is only a third of the three essential components needed to prepare and rectify the current dreaded financial situation in Sri Lanka. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Increasing taxes and commodity prices by the government will not resolve the problem<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Because of erroneous policies and actions by the government, the bare necessities for the population are at stake.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Especially for middle &#8211; and low-income families, which comprise approximately 90% of the population.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Hierarchy of government servants, military, police, professionals, prominent business owners, and politicians are affected the least: they do not feel or care about the hardships of the middle- and lower-income families.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Evidence suggests that some of the mentioned groups use this dire situation as an opportunity to \u2018make\u2019 more money at the expense of the poor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Others are so selfish that they do not mind the suffering of ordinary people if they are not affected.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>No fuel, electricity, food, essential medicine, high unemployment rate with no fallback options\u2014is this the way to run Sri Lanka?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The vulnerable low-income families, particularly the daily wage-earners, are desperate for survival, and their families are starving.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Fortunately, concerned people, mostly expatriates, philanthropies, and some local groups, have stepped into this vacuum, setting up food banks and other food donation programs as a stop-gap to prevent starvation and the deaths of the poor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>How long could they continue such support?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>What should be done?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Months or years before the current fiscal chaos, there were signs that the economy of Sri Lanka was heading for bankruptcy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>No one took firm action to prevent it, but the corrupt lot has recently begun to blame others.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Even for a family heading through financial difficulty, the first thing done is to reduce expenses.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>However, the Sri Lankan government, despite bankruptcy, even to date, failed to reduce its massive and unnecessary over-expenditure.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This wastage of taxpayers\u2019 funds is more than the treasury could generate via taxes; this is insanity.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Most of this expense comes from three times the needed number of government employees hired by politicians as election promises, to increase votes, and for personal gain. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In addition, the unelected president recently appointed approximately 70 ministers\u2014half of the ruling party members are now <i>ministers<\/i>\u2014another siphoning mechanism of public funds.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>This absurdity by the president costs nearly a trillion rupees for the treasure.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>How can such government expenditure be justified when a country is bankrupt, and people are starving?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the Central Bank is now borrowing at high interest (e.g., from banks) when the treasury is empty and cannot be paid back.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Consequently, it continues to be one of the most negative strategies\u2014printing money not only to pay the interest of its borrowing but to pay salaries of over-blown cader of government servants. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Rather than increase taxes that negatively affect mainly the middle class and small businesses, the government should have reduced its expenditure by 50% through austerity measures, including its workforce by half by now.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Instead, they have done none of these.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The recent decisions made by the current governor of the Central Bank seem no better than the previous offenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1530,"featured_media":229341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Continuing Corruption: Begging IMF: Increasing Taxes\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/continuing-corruption-begging-imf-increasing-taxes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Continuing Corruption: Begging IMF: Increasing Taxes\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/continuing-corruption-begging-imf-increasing-taxes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-19T16:22:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-25T22:41:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ranil-wickremesinghe-and-IMF.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sunil J. 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