Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kabir Hashim, speaking in Parliament today (05), criticized the government’s interim budget for 2025, highlighting that the same amount of funds allocated to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe for the first four months of 2024 has been allocated to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the corresponding period in 2025.
Concluding the debate on the interim budget, MP Hashim pointed out that Rs. 1.4 trillion has been earmarked for both years. “In 2024, Ranil Wickremesinghe was allocated Rs. 1.4 trillion under the President’s budget. For 2025, the same amount has been allocated to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the first four months of the year. What is the difference? Where has it been reduced? There is no change in the system,” he stated.
Hashim also took aim at the government’s stance on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement. He noted that while the SJB supports the framework of the IMF agreement, it proposed changes to some of its content. However, he accused the government of embracing neo-liberal policies too strongly, stating, “The President said in his throne speech that the IMF agreement will be implemented without hesitation. That is good, but today, you have become more neo-liberal than us.”
The interim budget has sparked extensive debate in Parliament, with opposition MPs raising questions about transparency and fiscal policy directions.
