Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-01-07

Re presentation of the Appropriation Bill for the Financial Year 2019 in Parliament

Approval was granted at the Cabinet meeting held last week for the preparation of the Annual Budget for the year 2019, with a view to strengthening the Government Fiscal Consolidation Programme which is being carried out presently and to enable to achieve the mid term Government fiscal targets planned to be attained by the year 2021. As such, it has been planned to re‑present a new Appropriation Bill incorporating the Government expenditure as well scheduled to be incurred under the Vote on Accounts during the first 04 months of the Financial Year 2019.

In accordance with the Appropriation Bill so drafted, the expenditure to be incurred for general services amounts to Rs.2,312 billion comprising of Rs.1,436 billion for recurrent expenditure and Rs.876 billion for capital expenditure. In addition, Rs.2,232 billion has been set apart for the expenses already authorized to be charged on the Consolidated Fund such as Public Debt Servicing and Widows and Orphans Pensions. Similarly, inclusive of a provision of Rs.06 billion for the Government Advance Account, the total expenditure anticipated to be incurred for the year 2019 is Rs.4,550 billion. According to the prevailing tax rates structure, the Government revenue and the foreign grants for the year 2019 will be around Rs.2,390 billion. Further, the total borrowing requirement from both foreign and domestic sources will be Rs.2,160 billion. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Finance & Mass Media, to present the draft Appropriation Bill for the year 2019 in Parliament, was approved by the Cabinet.