The exchange rate of the US dollar was Rs.49.50 in 1994; but by 2014, it had risen to Rs.138.59. That was when the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) was in power under Mahinda Rajapaksa, Highways and Road Development Minister Kabir Hashim said.
He was addressing a meeting at Akmeemana, Galle. The minister later inaugurated the Padinnoruwa – Dodampe road.
It was the same Mahinda Rajapakse who recently suggested the formation of a coalition government resolve the alleged chaos in the present regime, he said and added that Rajapaksa should realise that chaos was only present when he was in office.
“The currencies of certain countries have recently depreciated by more than 50 percent. Our government managed to maintain the depreciation rate at seven to eight percent,” the minister said.
Minister Hashim said that people suffered during the Rajapaksa regime: prices of essential commodities were high, and those commodities were scarce.
Especially lentils, sugar, dried fish, and milk powder were overpriced. A new tax was also imposed during the previous government, which only contributed to an inflationary spiral, the minister added.
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