The fifth budget of the present government to be presented in parliament at 2 pm today by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is aimed at reducing the budget deficit to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from 5.3% in 2018.
Minister Samaraweera's second budget as Finance Minister is themed under ‘Empowering the people, nurturing the poor’ and will focus on increasing the number of entrepreneurs in the country and eliminating all barriers that hinder this objective.
Samaraweera’s budget will have other tough targets, including maintaining the debt-to-GDP ratio to just 70% and limiting recurrent expenditure to 15% of GDP. Capital expenditure will also be limited to only 3.5% of GDP, the Finance Ministry had said. Total public expenditure is estimated to be Rs. 4.5 trillion while revenue is expected to be Rs. 2.4 trillion.
“The Budget will have proposals to expand Enterprise Sri Lanka and improve skills and entrepreneurship opportunities to improve the quality of Sri Lanka’s human resources,” a statement released by the Finance Ministry said on Monday. “Policies needed to empower the poor and reduce poverty will be included in this Budget.”
The budget deficit in 2015 was 7.6% and improved to 5.3% in 2018 while the government is also currently running a primary surplus.
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