Editorial Desk :
The government has restricted unnecessary foreign trips for government officials to cut down spending for post-Covid economic recovery and ongoing global crisis, a crisis that has been further multiplied by the Ukraine war. But this restriction of highly expensive foreign trips of ministers along with huge entourage has become too late. One junior was allowed to take more than one hundred foreign trips. The prime minister missed no opportunity, important or unimportant, to go abroad in gray style. Now the economy is in bad shape to afford foreign visits.
The government has taken moves to defer projects which are less important as the country’s foreign currency reserves
came down to $42 billion, enough to cover only five months’ import. But the corruption money for all the projects have gone to the pockets of chosen people of the government.
If this is the case, we have every reason to believe that this present prohibition of low priority foreign trips such as exposure visits, study tour, APA and innovation tour, and workshops/seminars under operation and development budgets has just been put in place to create a spectacle. The officials and ministers not only make pointless tours keeping them absent from their duties when service seekers suffer, they make these trips more costly often by going through flight’s business class though not entitled to.
Now the gross mismanagement of the plundering economy is coming to light. Unprecedented amounts of bank looting were going on merrily. An eye doctor had no difficulty to steal few hindered crores of bank’s money because of his closeness to the prime minister. The lavish amounts were added to the salaries of government officials under one pretext or other. Because it is important to keep them happy and loyal. They were also showered with loan facilities with little or no interest for buying personal cars or apartments. a wrong message about their position as public servants. The poor people were not counted for their economic hardship.
Let us hope we shall not be economically bankrupt for the economic mismanagement like Sri Lanka. Although, there are still some who assure such fear is unfounded. They are relying on foreign remittances and not for internal economic condition. Some looters responsible for economic decay are awaiting for the opportunity of leaving the country before they are caught in the changing situation.
