MORE MONEY PRINTING!!! MORE INFLATION!!! MORE WEAPONS!!! MORE WAR!!!

Rs. 51B boom in money printing

Additional currency notes to the value of Rs.51 billion have been put into circulation between November 19, 2005 and November 25, 2008, during the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa as President and Finance Minister.

This revelation was made in Parliament yesterday by Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardane in reply to a question by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake. During this time, the total face value of the fresh currency notes printed was Rs. 124 billion. During this period, notes with a total face value of Rs.72 billion had been withdrawn from circulation; thus the net value of the notes issued was Rs.51 billion.

Besides this, the government had spent Rs. two billion on the printing of these notes and Rs.428 million on other direct costs.

The notes had been printed by De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Private Ltd, which had been selected on a Cabinet decision.

MP Karunanayake said that the printing of money on such a scale had resulted in inflation galloping at a high rate. He also said that the government had taken overdrafts totalling Rs.90 billion from the two state banks, and an additional Rs. 42 billion from the Central Bank. Coins had also been minted -- by the Royal Mint of the United Kingdom.

“How are you going to resurrect the economy under these circumstances?” asked Mr. Karunanayake.

Mr. Gunawardane replied that inflation was on a downward trend at the moment, and that the government had taken steps to ensure that the benefits reached the people.

“You vowed to reduce petrol prices, stop the war and send the government home. But we continue to govern without any hindrance,” he told the UNP.

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