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Ronnie de Mel, a veteran Parliamentarian and a former Finance Minister who presented 11 Budgets in Parliament from 1977 to 1988 said, “A budget in a developing country like ours should have two aspects; structural and human.” Referring to the 2003 Budget, Mr. De Mel said that it lacked the human quality. “The economic woes of the common man have not been addressed in this budget. It is wrong to expect the private sector alone to address the issues of lower and middle class citizens,” he said this morning on a TV talk show. “This was the most colourless budget I have ever witnessed,” the veteran Parliamentarian and Former Finance Minister said. Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse said that the budget had once again burdened the people. “Vehicle taxes have gone up, which means that transport costs will go up. This will mean that the general cost of living will go up. There is nothing beneficial to the people in this budget,” he said. PA MP, Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that it was a drab budget. “One of the most boring budgets ever presented. No imagination at all. It heaps burdens on the public at large, no concessions for the average person. The government is slowly moving ahead to curtail public welfare through proposals for pension reforms,” he said. However, the man on the street seemed totally unaware of the budget proposals presented yesterday. Several pedestrians interviewed in the Colombo Fort area this afternoon said that they were unaware of the Finance Minister’s proposals. Significantly, they complained about the high cost of living. The private sector was justifiably upbeat. Chandra Embuldeniya, President of the National Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka described the budget as ‘very progressive.’ “This budget will definitely help to develop the country in a big way,” he said.
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