Cabraal on financial consequences of long lockdowns

The country will face various difficulties if the periods under lockdown are not shortened, says State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

He mentioned this speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo today (August 21).

“We need to get our country back on track as soon as possible to avoid the loss caused by lockdown. We know life is important, but so is livelihood. Only those who have lost their livelihood will understand this pain.

The lockdown should be as short as possible. If we do not shorten it, we will have to suffer the consequences of many things on both sides. If we have to use dollars in our dealings with foreign countries, we have to earn dollars for that. If we have a shortage of it [dollars], we have to make cutbacks in other areas. Importation of vehicles was stopped. We will have to make decisions like that.”