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Wednesday, 9 January 2019 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: Sri Lanka plans to increase government spending by 13.2% from last year to Rs. 4.47 trillion ($24.51 billion) in 2019, the Finance Ministry has said.
The Government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe-led centre-right United National Party (UNP) has planned some key economic projects to win votes from rural areas, where nearly 70% of the island nation’s voters are registered.
The Government also plans to maintain the 2019 Budget deficit at 4.8% of GDP, the Ministry said in a statement, unchanged from an estimated 4.8% in 2018.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has also sought Cabinet approval for a Rs. 2.1 borrowing next year, up 10.5% from its estimate for 2018.
The Government must repay a record $5.9 billion this year, including a $3 billion fresh borrowing, Central Bank Chief Indrajit Coomaraswamy said last week.
The Government, however, has not revised its medium-term Budget deficit target of 3.5% of GDP in 2020.
Since a 51-day political crisis in the last quarter, the Government has been struggling to boost investor sentiment.
Sri Lanka is due to hold a Presidential poll before end-November and elections for the Provincial Councils are also due, but the dates have not been fixed yet due to some administrative issues.
Samaraweera will present the 2019 Budget on 5 March, the statement said.
The International Monetary Fund in June said Sri Lanka’s economy remains vulnerable to adverse shocks because of sizable public debt and large refinancing needs.
