8 October 2021 08:52 am Views - 97
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Perera
Total state expenditure for 2022 has been slashed to approximately to Rs 2505.3 billion compared to Rs. 2538 billion this year as per the Appropriation Bill which was presented to Parliament yesterday.
According to the Bill which was presented to Parliament, Presidential expenditure has been reduced to Rs. 2,788,800,000 for 2022 compared to Rs. 7,429,730,000 this year while expenditure for the Prime Minister has been increased to Rs. 1,391,950,000. Defence budget has been increased to Rs. 373,045,860,000, while the expenditure for health has been reduced to Rs. 153, 528,998,000 compared to Rs. 159,575,998,000 last year despite the pandemic situation.
Expenditure increase for Education and Highways is another salient feature of the Appropriation Bill 2022. Accordingly there is a massive Rs. 127,505,000,000 allocation for Education compared to Rs. 1,791,089,000 in 2021.
State Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha claimed that the government was contemplating to resolve the salary anomalies of teachers and principals through the Budget. In addition the expenditure allocation for Highways development has been increased to Rs. 250,191,000,000 compared to 245,017,424,000 this year.