Govt. to present interim budget today

The government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to present an interim budget to Parliament today for the remainder of 2022, as the crisis-hit nation tries to stay afloat. 

The Amendment to the Appropriation Bill for 2022 was presented to Parliament ahead of the interim budget speech.

According to PublicFinance.lk, the amended bill shows a 20 percent increase in expenditure to Rs.4,672 billion for the year 2022, which could widen the budget deficit, unless revenue enhancement measures are adopted.

The interim budget is likely to aim for a 9.9 percent budget deficit for 2022, which is lower than the earlier 12 percent. While reversing of the deep tax cuts introduced in 2019 has not taken place fully to boost the government revenue, Sri Lanka raised some key tax rates after May.

The interim budget comes amid Sri Lanka’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout package.

The Sri Lankan Parliament’s communications office said President Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, will present the interim budget on August 30 and the parliamentarians will debate the budget from Tuesday to Friday that week.

The government is expected to present a full budget for the year 2023 in November.