Systemic reviews on 10 key ministries to rationalise State expenditure

In an attempt to further reduce State expenditure through a systematic review, the Cabinet nod has been granted to appoint 10 committees chaired by senior Treasury officials to conduct systemic reviews in ten key ministries.  

President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to appoint 10 committees comprised of officers chaired by either a Deputy Treasury Secretary or a senior officer of the Treasury to conduct a systematic review on 10 key ministries where a higher portion of allocations are made from the annual budget estimations. The ten ministries are: Ministry of Transport and Highways, Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health• Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Plantation Industries, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Irrigation and Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.

“Through a zero based budgeting methodology, double counting of programmes expenditure wastage, low priority activities and efficient and productive methodologies of utilising the allocation of existing provisions will be recognised through a systematic review,”the Department of Government Information said.

Under the zero-based budgeting methodology, the Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardana highlighted that efforts are underway to settle all payments owed to suppliers and contractors within the fiscal year instead of carrying it forward for the following fiscal year.

With State revenue estimated at 8.3 percent of GDP in 2022 below the minimum requirement of 20 percent of the GDP, the Minister remarked that the government would focus on maintaining essential government services amid extreme financial constraints.

Accordingly, he noted that the government would mainly focus on key recurrent expenditure categories such as salaries and pensions, Samurdhi and other social safety net programmes and interest payments to creditors under the current financial constraints.