Cabinet approves Appropriation Bills

• 2 Appropriation Bills to be presented to Parliament for 2020, 2021
• Bill for 2020 to include all VoAs and Rs. 211 b spent in 2019 but unaccounted for 
• Recurrent expenditure for 2020 Rs. 2.6 t and capital expenditure Rs. 1.8 t
• Govt. allocates higher capital expenditure of Rs. 2.2 t for 2021 
• AG gives nod to gazette and table bills in P’ment 

Cabinet has approved two Appropriation Bills for the years 2020 and 2021, which will be presented in Parliament shortly, with the latter allocating Rs. 2.6 trillion for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 2.2 trillion for capital expenditure. 

Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters at the weekly Cabinet briefing that the Government had decided to present two Appropriation Bills, one for 2020 and one for 2021, as there was no formal Budget approved for this year. 

The Appropriation Bill for 2020 will therefore contain details of the two Vote on Accounts approved by Parliament as well as the Vote on Account signed off by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after the former Parliament was dissolved. 

“Cabinet approval was granted on 19 August 2020 for drafting the Appropriation Bill of the Financial Year 2020. Accordingly, the total recurrent expenditure for the Financial Year 2020 is estimated as Rs. 2,692 billion and the capital expenditure is estimated as Rs. 1,846 billion. The Government has decided to increase the capital expenditure for next year,” he said. 

Provisions for Estimated Expenditure for the Year 2020 approved by the President in terms of the Article 150(3) of the Constitution includes Rs. 211 billion spent for the year 2019 but has not been accounted for and will be included in the Appropriation Bill for 2020, Minister Rambukwella said. 

“Accordingly, the Attorney General's clearance has been received for the Appropriation Bill drafted by the Legal Draftsman for the Fiscal Year 2020. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance to gazette this Appropriation Bill and then table it in Parliament.”

Drafting of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2021 was approved by the Cabinet on 16 September. Accordingly, the total recurrent expenditure for the Financial Year 2021 is estimated as Rs. 2,690 billion and the capital expenditure is estimated as Rs. 2,216 billion. 

The Attorney General's clearance has also been given for the Appropriation Bill drafted by the Legal Draftsman. Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by Prime Minister Rajapaksa to gazette it and present it in Parliament.