The Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2024, which will be presented in Parliament later this year, is reportedly expected to see an increase of Rs. 203 billion in State expenditure.
With the Presidential Election due in 2024, the budget has largely focused on the election expenditure, according to the Sunday Times.
According to Financial Ministry sources, key allocations expected in the Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2024 are as follows:
- Government expenditure:
The expenditure of the government is estimated at Rs. 3,860 billion. This is an increase of Rs. 203 billion compared to 2023, when the estimated expenditure was Rs. 3,657 billion.
- Presidential Election:
The Election Commission has been allocated Rs. 11 billion in anticipation of the Presidential election. Constitutionally, the presidential election must be concluded by October next year. President Ranil Wickremesinghe who was elected in July 2022, is presently serving out the remaining term of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was forced to resign.
- Ministries :
The Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government has been given the biggest allocation in the upcoming bill, with Rs. 886 billion, an increase from the Rs. 856 billion given in 2023.
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization, and National Policies has been allocated Rs. 723 billion, a significant increase from the Rs. 614 billion allocated in 2023.
The Ministry of Defence is allocated Rs. 423 billion, an increase from the Rs. 410 billion provided in 2023.
The Health Ministry has been given Rs. 410 billion, a significant increase from the Rs. 322 billion received in 2023.
The Ministry of Transport and Highways has been allocated Rs. 403.6 billion.
The Ministry of Education has been given Rs. 237 billion.
The Ministry of Public Security has been allocated Rs. 140.7 billion.
The Ministry of Agriculture will receive Rs. 100 billion.
The Ministry of Irrigation has been allocated Rs. 84 billion.
The Office of the President has been allocated Rs. 6.6 billion.
- State institutions:
A proposal has been made to increase allowances for public sector employees by at least Rs. 1000, with a concurrent increase for pensioners.
The retirement age for public sector employees will remain at 60 years.
Those in the health sector, teachers, university lecturers and several other professions will likely be given the option of having their services extended by two or three years, mainly due to the severe shortages in these areas at present.
Entities such as the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Road Development Authority (RDA) will not be carrying out any mega development projects owing to the severe shortage of funds.
All government ministries including the Defence Ministry will be instructed to engage in large scale cost-cutting measures, cutting down on unnecessary expenditure like renting buildings, obtaining vehicles on lease, as well as limiting expenditure for functions.
- Policy decision:
The ban on importing personal vehicles will remain in place next year as well.
A key focus will be on increasing the country’s foreign reserves from the present USD 3.8 billion to USD 6 billion. A vital step, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted a failure by Sri Lanka to make enough progress in tax collection.
The full implementation of the Revenue Administration Management Information System (RAMIS) next year in order to increase the number of Large Taxpayer Units, who pay the largest amount of tax.
New laws are also due to be introduced to further increase the tax net and increase penalties for those who continue to flout paying their taxes.
More allocations to be made for the tourism sector with the aim of raising tourism earnings to USD 1 billion.
The government will present the Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2024 to Parliament on November 13, 2023. (NewsWire)