Data delay dilemma!

Monday, 4 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Overdue of information on latest government finances causes concern
Central Bank August report still includes only data up to April

An apparent delay in release of up-to-date government finances has caused concerns among stakeholders. The Central Bank latest release of monthly data for August, put out on Friday still carries government finances details as of April only. Analysts said ideally by August the first half data for the year should be out. This was the case for several years until this year. Opposition parties which have been claiming that the Government was bankrupt noted that state revenue collection has deteriorated whilst there has been serious expenditure overruns largely due to extravagance.

Tight cash situation within the Government including Ministries has delayed payments to private sector businesses handling public sector contracts and caused cash flow difficulties. However officials said the non-release could be an oversight and noted revenue collection has picked up. A much improved performance is likely when data is released. In the first four months of this year, total revenue and grants amounted to Rs. 314.8 billion, down by 4.2% from Rs. 328.7 billion a year earlier. Total revenue was down by 4% to Rs. 313.9 billion. Tax revenue amounted to Rs. 289.8 billion, down from Rs. 297.5 billion. Non tax revenue was Rs. 24.2 billion, down from Rs. 29.1 billion. Recurrent expenditure was up 2.3% to Rs. 471.3 billion and capital expenditure and net lending shot up by 21.7% to Rs. 187 billion. Public debt, which too has only data up to April amounted to Rs. 6.3 trillion, up by 6% in comparison to a year earlier. In its release of data on country’s reserves, Central Bank last week said Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves amounted to $ 6.3 billion by end August 2013 while total international reserves, including foreign reserves of commercial banks, stood at $ 7.5 billion. “In terms of months of imports, gross official reserves were equivalent to 4.1 months of imports by end August 2013, well above the internationally accepted norm of three months of imports, while, total reserves were equivalent to 4.8 months of imports,” the Central Bank said.