President to present Budget 2014 today
President to present Budget 2014 today
November 20, 2013, 9:24 pm
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as Finance Minister, is scheduled to present the 2014 Budget to Parliament today (21) at 1.00 p.m. The debate on the second reading of the Budget will commence the following day at 9.30 a.m. and continue till Nov. 29.
According to the Appropriation Bill, presented to Parliament, total government expenditure would go up by 30 percent from last year’s Rs. 1,335 to Rs. 1,542 billion with the biggest allocation being made to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development––Rs 253 billion. The current year’s defence budget is Rs. 289 billion.
The President’s expenditure for 2014 has been increased to Rs. 85 billion from Rs. 74 billion.
Rs. 164 billion has been allocated for the Finance Ministry.
Among key financial outlays for ministries for the next year, include Ports and Highways - Rs. 144 billion (Rs. 131.4 billion for the current year), Health - Rs. 117.6 billion (Rs. 93.5 billion for 2013), Mass Media and Information - Rs 26.8 billion (Rs. 27.1 billion for 2013, Education Rs 38.8 billion (Rs. 37.9 billion for 2013) and Higher Education - Rs. 29.5 billion (Rs. 27.9 billion for 2013).
The other notable allocations are: the Ministry of Public Relations - Rs 2.4 billion, Economic Development Ministry - Rs. 106 billion and the Ministry of Law and Order - Rs. 52.3 billion.
The appropriation Bill has set a borrowing limit of 1,100 billion rupees for 2014, down 15 percent from Rs 1,295 billion set in the appropriation bill for 2013.
Rs. 300 million has been allocated to the Prime Minister for the next year –– a decrease from Rs. 320 million in the current year.
November 21, 2013
GOVT INCREASES DEFENCE SPENDING
November 21, 2013
The government allocated a record 253.9 billion rupees for the defence ministry, which is 16.5% from the total estimated spending of Rs 1,542 billion for the year 2014.
The 2014 defence budget is marginally higher than the 249 billion rupees budgeted for this year.
Meanwhile 51 billion rupees has been allocated for the Justice Ministry, Rs 144.9 billion for the Ministry of Ports and Highways, 106 billion rupees for the Ministry of Economic Development, 75.9 billion rupees for Education, Higher Education and Education Services ministries and 117.6 billion rupees for the Ministry of Health.
The government’s estimated income for the next year is 1,100 billion rupees.
Sri Lanka will aim for more than 7.5 percent annual economic growth in the next three years, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the parliament on Thursday while presenting the 2014 budget.
The central bank expects growth of 7.2 percent this year. The International Monetary Fund has forecast 6.5 percent growth this year and again in 2014.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the finance minister, said maintaining a flexible exchange rate regime along with productivity improvement is important to achieve the export revenue target of $20 billion in 2020.
He told parliament he was raising telecom tax from 20 to 25 percent to rake in more revenue from the rapidly growing industry.
Rajapakse introduced a 15 percent tax on land leased to foreign nationals, slapped a two percent tax on banks and raised duties on the import and export of several commodities.
The government expects to reduce the budget deficit to 5.2% in 2014, to 4.5% in 2015, and to 3.8% by 2016.