Parliament debate on Supplementary Estimate today

The Supplementary Estimate of Rs. 695 billion for Government expenditure was passed in Parliament today (June 08) without a vote following the debate.

The debate on the Supplementary Estimate of Rs. 695 billion, presented by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, was taken up for debate this morning.

The Committee on Public Finance, chaired by MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, gave its approval to the said Supplementary Estimate yesterday.

The Supplementary Estimate was presented to provide relief to various parts of society affected by the adverse economic conditions in 2022 and to provide additional funding to cover the rising cost of supplies due to inflation.

Out of this estimate of Rs. 695 billion, Rs. 395 billion is for recurrent expenditure. The remaining Rs. 300 billion is allocated for capital expenses.

Meanwhile, Rs. 87 billion will be spent on continuing the payment of the monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 given to public sector employees since January 2022.

Further, a sum of Rs. 40 billion has been allotted to pay the monthly allowance for pensioners, and Rs. 15 billion for the additional allowance of Rs. 1,000 paid to the Samurdhi recipients.

According to the Communications Department of the Parliament, Rs. 50 billion is allocated to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to settle payments to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for the purpose of meeting the energy requirement, Rs. 12 billion for the incentives to appreciate the use of green agricultural inputs, and Rs. 50 billion for the fertilizer subsidies.

The estimate seeks the approval to allocate Rs. 25 billion for possible shortage of provisions with regard to the supply of food and other supplies in security forces and institutions such as hospitals and prison due to the increase in prices, and a further Rs. 4.5 billion other possible recurrent expenditures payable due to the soaring prices and Rs. 21 billion for payment of loan interests.

Rs. 250 billion is set aside for the utilization/accounting of the credit amount received under the Indian Credit Line to import essential items.

In addition, Rs. 140 billion for the utilization of proposed relief to the people, Samurdhi beneficiaries affected by the difficult economic circumstances and the beneficiaries presently on waiting lists who are eligible for any such benefit at present (world Bank) are also included.

Accordingly, an amount of Rs. 305 billion of local funds has to be provided for, other than the funds provided by the World Bank and the Government of India.

The proposals under Section 8 of the Appropriation Act No. 7 of 2020 were approved following debate.

According to Section 8 of the Appropriation Act No. 7 of 2020, these provisions have been imposed in accordance with the powers vested in the Minister of Finance to amend the advance account limits given under the Appropriation Act, taking into account the requirements arising in the relevant year.