Sri Lanka's finance minister Ravi Karunanayake dismissed claims that the government was facing a financial crisis, instead blaming the former regime for excessive spending and causing a “nightmare”.

Mr Karunanayake denied Sri Lanka was in crisis, however admitted that financial problems persist because of the previous government. "What to do?" asked the minister. "It’s not really a headache, it’s really a nightmare.”

The minister continued to say "it’s not just a repair job but a resuscitation”.

“I come from the private sector as a chartered accountant, and, coming into this office, I never knew that countries could be run in such a mess,” he continued. "Even a betel nut shop in the street has an accounting system, but not here. I don’t want to run down my own country but I must put it in context.”

However, Mr Karunanayake insisted that the government is “putting it right” and despite the fact that he is currently facing a no confidence motion, backed by almost 100 lawmakers.

Speaking to CNBC, he dismissed the move, stating it was only backed by a “handful” of MPs.

When asked whether “maybe it’s the electorate who are a little frustrated with slowing growth meaning that they can’t find jobs, in fact some are losing jobs, and they want something done about it,” the minister responded that this was not the case.

Saying the economy was recovering and the people were happy, the minister added “the smiles on their face spells it all”.

See our earlier post:

Rupee hits record low, CB governor warns of fixing rate (12 Jun 2015)