Exclusive-Sri Lankas prime minister says will slash expenditure in new budget

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpCOLOMBO Reuters – Sri Lankas new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday he will present an interim budget within six weeks, slashing down on infrastructure projects and rerouting funds into a twoyear relief programme for the crisishit island nation.p

p“With the interim budget, it is just about cutting down expenditure, cutting to the bone where possible and transferring it to welfare,” Wickremesinghe, who took office two weeks ago, said in an interview.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pInflation in the country of 22 million people, which is being battered by its worst economic crisis since independence, could rise above and annual 40 as the government rolls back fuel subsidies and prints more money to keep the economy afloat, he said.p

p“We have no rupee revenue, and now we have to print another one trillion rupees,” he said.p

pWickremesinghe added the country would appoint a new finance minister on Wednesday, who will lead negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a loan package.p

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pp Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal in COLOMBO Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnanp

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