Sunday 11 October 2015

Finance Minister to bridge a budget deficit of Rs.1,349.12 bln

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will unveil measures to bridge the budgetary gap of Rs.1,349.12 billion in 2016 when he presents the maiden budget of the new government in parliament on November 20.

Budget 2016 is now being prepared based on the Medium term Budgetary framework 2016-2018, a media release issued by the Finance Ministry revealed.

The Treasury has conducted budget discussions with the Ministries and Provincial Councils while considering policy framework and priorities in drafting budget estimates for 2016, it said.

According to the Appropriation Bill for the budget 2016 approved by the cabinet, the revenue at the prevailing rates structure and foreign grants have been estimated to be around Rs. 1,789 billion. The expenditure provision covered in the Appropriation Bill has been estimated as Rs. 1,941 billion which consists of Rs. 1,314 billion for recurrence expenditure and Rs. 626 billion for capital expenditure.

The total expenditure provision for 2016 without budget proposals to be introduced at the second reading of the budget (November 20) is estimated at Rs. 3,138 billion.

The appropriation bill for the budget 2016 is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on October 23.


Defence allocation rises, education up four-fold, President’s budget slashed
By Chandani Kirinde

The Defence budget will remain high next year also, but most significantly the allocation for education has been increased four-fold. The defence allocation is more than Rs. 306 billion. In contrast, the allocation for the Office of the President has been heavily reduced in comparison to allocations made under the previous administration.

According to the 2016 Appropriations Bill, which will be presented to Parliament later this month, more than Rs. 257.6 billion of the money allocated to the Defence Ministry will go for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure will be around Rs. 48. 9 billion.

The total allocation made to the Ministry of Defence for 2015 when it was amalgamated with the Ministry of Urban Development was around Rs. 285 billion. Next year, however the Defence Ministry alone will get around Rs. 306 billion, of which close to 85 per cent will be spent on operations activities of the Ministry, the Sri Lanka Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Department of Civil Security and the Coast Guard Department.

The allocation to the President’s office for both operational and development activities is a little more than Rs. 2.3 billion, down from the Rs. 9.6 billion that was allocated in the 2015 Budget. The allocation for the Ministry of Education will see a four-fold increase from the previous year, going up to more than Rs. 185.9 billion from the Rs. 47.6 billion allocated in the 2015 Budget.

The other big allocations are for the Ministries of Local Government and Provincial Councils (Rs. 237 billion), University Education and Highways (Rs. 171 billion), Public Administration and Management (Rs. 156 billion), Finance and Planning (Rs. 107 billion) and Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine (Rs. 174 billion).

The total Government expenditure for 2016 is estimated at around Rs. 1,941 billion, of which Rs. 1,314 billon will be for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 626 billion for capital expenditure.The 2016 Appropriation Bill for 2016 was approved by the Cabinet this week and it is to be tabled in Parliament on October 23.

The Budget speech or the Second Reading of the Budget will be made by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake on November 20.
www.sundaytimes.lk

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