Former Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and Presidential Advisor Ashoka de Silva says that the country's development rate has dropped by 2 percent due to the increase in corruption. De Silva has said that corruption costs Rs. 100 billion to the country, which in turn affects the poverty levels.
He has made these observations at a ceremony held to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day on Dec 9th.
The former Chief Justice has noted that the country has however managed to come down in the list of corrupt countries in the world. Sri Lanka is currently listed at 86th place, he has said.
He has added that the per capita income stated by the government in the budget is earned only by about 4 percent of the country's population while the rest of the people only earn around US$ 5 or 6 per day.
The former Chief Justice has noted that corruption was a key element in the country that needs to be addressed.
"The government cannot earn good revenue if corruption was rampant in the state institutions," he has said.
lankasri