President directs State officials to control expenditure

Wednesday, 1 February 2023 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Issues “note to Cabinet’ to curtail expenditure amidst ongoing economic crisis
Cabinet Co-Spokesman says Ministry Secretaries are bound to be held responsible
Expects Govt. income will increase by end of Q1 as new taxes come into effect
Govt. tax revenue at Rs. 158.7 b, expenditure at Rs. 367.8 b till 27 Jan.
Says VRS is underway for State sector workers

Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed all State officials to control the expenditure, warning that those who violate the order will be held responsible for financial misuse.

“President issued a Note to the Cabinet to control the public expenditure. The Ministry Secretaries are directly responsible as they are bound by an agreement,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

He asserted that the President who is also the Finance Minister has issued several directives to limit Government expenses, amidst the ongoing economic crisis.

Separately, the President’s Media Division also issued a statement noting that all public officers refrain from obtaining goods and services on a credit basis.

It added that any Stare officer who violates the directive will be held personally responsible for such expenditure.

As of 27 January, the Government has received a total of Rs.158.7 billion as revenue via tax collection departments such as Inland Revenue, Customs, Excise and other means, Gunawardena said.

However, he also said that the Government expenditure was at Rs. 367.8 billion for the same period, where the bulk of it had been spent on State sector salaries, pensions and Samurdhi payments.

Gunawardena also said that Rs. 377.6 billion was paid to serve debts from funds raised via Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Central Bank credit and bank overdrafts.

He hoped that the revenue inflow will turn better towards the end of the first quarter as the new taxes imposed by the Government early this year will come into effect.

In addition, the Cabinet Co-Spokesman said measures are underway to reduce the number of State employees in all Government agencies, in a bid to reduce cost.

“A voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) is currently in effect for all those employees deemed ineffective,” he pointed out.

At present there are over 1.5 million workers in the public sector.