Cost of Sri Lanka's war a vital investment, Governor of Central Bank says

The cost of Sri Lanka's four-year war on terrorism from 2006-2009 amounted to 5.5 billion US dollars but it was a vital investment by the government and the people, the governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal has said.

Testifying before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the President to probe the events during the war, Cabraal has said many governments before the present administration did not pursue the military option to end the terrorism that plagued Sri Lanka for three decades due to the fears of massive cost a war would incur and as a consequence, tough economic decisions that would need to be taken.

The governor, presenting figures on the expenditure for the four years the government waged the war against the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has said that contrary to popular belief, Sri Lanka spent only about 4% of its GDP on defence over the 4 years, 2006 to 2009.

The expenditure that amounted to 605 billion rupees (5.5 billion US dollars) included cost of aircrafts, ships, tanks, ammunition, other equipment, training, food for soldiers, uniforms, etc., Cabraal has pointed out.

He has told the LLRC considering the victorious outcome of Sri Lanka's war and compared to what other countries in the world use for battling terrorism this amount for a country that has been plagued by terrorism for decades indicates that the government has used its resources efficiently and [...]