Budget 2022: Construction of new state institutions to be suspended for two years

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa today (November 12) suggested suspending the construction of new office buildings for the state institutions to be suspended for two years, except for the establishments that are under construction at the moment.

Assets of many of these enterprises are underutilized, he said, urging his fellow ministers, their secretaries and heads of departments to provide leadership to utilize these assets to the maximum.

It is necessary to utilize the allocated capital expenditure for development activities that directly benefit the public, while productively using the existing office facilities, the finance minister emphasized.

He further proposed to include amendments to the Appropriation Bill preventing requests for Supplementary Estimates for 2022 by all Ministries.

The finance minister made these proposals delivering his inaugural budget speech in parliament this afternoon.