In a fortnight Govt. ups 2014 Budget’s debt ceiling by Rs. 178 b

Tuesday, 3 December 2013 01:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent The Government increased the debt ceiling by an additional Rs. 178 billion from Rs. 1,100 billion mentioned in the Budget speech, to Rs. 1,278 billion, by presenting a List of Proposed Alterations in the Legends of Draft Estimates 2014 yesterday at Parliament when the eighth allotted day of the Appropriation Bill (2014) – ‘Committee Stage Debate’ took off on Ministries and other institutions under the President. Opposition lawmaker MP Sunil Handunnetti joining the debate expressed his concerns about the sudden increase in the debt ceiling, which impacts the Budget debates held last week. “The Executive President’s authority is overruling the sovereignty of Parliament. The President has been allocated Rs. 8.57 billion. But at this rate you will see further increases also. There is an issue on maintaining the post of the Executive President. If you analyse the President’s daily allocation is Rs. 23.4 billion. We borrow money to maintain the Executive Presidency when most citizens are receiving less than one half of a coconut. The Prime Minister has a small allocation of Rs. 305 million,” he charged. UNP MP John Amaratunga said: “The President enjoys the largest share in this budget. There are 107 on the Government’s side including the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, 66 cabinet members, the deputies, and the other MPs. We heard about the plans to appoint 14 additional deputy ministers. There are four vacancies in the Supreme Court but an attempt is seen to appoint some pro-government junior judges. The Bribery Commission only targets the small-timers and lets go of the politicians.”

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