President Ranil Wickremesinghe to present the interim budget today

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to present the interim budget in Parliament today.

Parliament is scheduled to convene at 1pm today. President Wickremesinghe as the Minister of Finance will deliver the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill to amend the Appropriation Act No. 30 of 2021.

The 2022 Budget presented by then Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa was ratified after Parliament passed the Appropriation Bill on the 10th of December 2021.

However, earlier this month, President Ranil Wickremesinghe while delivering his policy statement in Parliament announced that he will present a new budget.

Accordingly, the Appropriation Bill for the remainder of the 2022 fiscal year as a new government is presented to Parliament as an amendment to the Budget approved in December 2021.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, presented the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill to the Parliament for the first reading on the 9th of August.

According to the Appropriation Bill presented in Parliament, the amount allocated to bear the Ministerial Service Expenses of the government has been estimated as Rs. 3,275.8 billion.

However, according to the previously presented Appropriation Bill, an amount of Rs. 2,796.4 billion was estimated for the 2022 fiscal year from the 1st of January 2022 to the 31st of December 2022.

Accordingly, the expenditure required for Ministerial Service activities has been increased by Rs. 929.4 billion.

Meanwhile, for the financial year 2022, the credit amount obtained from within or outside of Sri Lanka will be increased from Rs. 3,200 billion to Rs. 4,082 billion.

Accordingly, subject to the approval of Parliament, the borrowing limit of the government will be increased by Rs. 892 billion.

Meanwhile, the expenditure of the government’s estimated cost or debt servicing cost authorized by law to be an expense to the Consolidated Fund is expected to be increased from Rs. 2,623 billion to Rs. 2,901 billion.

The debate on the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill will be held tomorrow and on Thursday between 9.30am and 5.30pm.

On Friday, between 9.30am and 4.30pm, the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill will be debated, following which the Bill is scheduled to be passed after the committee stage and the third reading.