Prime Minister pledges to cut poverty in half by 2020

Jan 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has promised to reduce poverty by half in the next four years and make Sri Lanka a high income country by 2030.

Speaking at an event held in Galle today, the Premier said the government will launch a special program to halve the country's poverty by 2020.

The government has introduced an economic agenda with the aim of making Sri Lanka a high income country by 2030. “We have to achieve this target,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

“Are we going to develop the country by 2020 or are we going to go down as the previous government by disrupting the development,” the Premier asked.

He said the government will provide solutions to the problems public have without a spectacle and create a better future for them by 2020.

“We need to develop fast. With the government's initiatives we can reduce poverty by 50 percent by 2020. Income levels will increase, education will be developed, and new schools will be built,” the Premier said.

“We can face the world without any fear. That is the alternative we have to choose at the beginning of this year,” the Premier said.

The Premier said the city of Galle will be developed further and larges tourist zones will be created.

“We want to develop Galle as a main tourist zone, not only in Sri Lanka, but in all South Asia,” he said adding that the benefits of all these development will come back to the city.