Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media, Kalanithi Bandula Gunawardena, said that while preparing the upcoming 2025 budget document, whoever runs the government must adhere to the loan agreement made with the International Monetary Fund until 2028.
He also mentioned that the parties expecting to come to power should inform the country whether they are going to act according to these agreements or not.
Minister Bandula Gunawardena said this at a press conference held at the Presidential Media Center yesterday (10).
Minister Bandula Gunawardena gave further comments here.
So far various parties have been leading protests and strikes. According to this, a committee consisting of the Secretary to the President and the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance has been appointed to provide solutions to the problems related to salaries including salary discrepancies in government departments, government corporations and other government bodies.
The cabinet led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to recommend solutions and provide comprehensive solutions in the budget document for the year 2025. No matter how much the government needs, the 2024 budget document cannot get additional allocations. It must also be recalled here that for the past four decades there has been insufficient revenue to carry out the day-to-day operations of a government.
By 2023, the Inland Revenue Department has collected 1550 billion rupees by increasing all types of taxes. The customs department collected Rs 923 billion through import and export duties. The Excise Department has collected 169 billion rupees. The Motor Transport Commissioner’s Department collected Rs 20 billion and generated non-tax revenue of Rs 219 billion. Also 16 billion rupees have been donated. 304 billion rupees have been received through various deposit funds. According to this, the total revenue received through all channels has been recorded at 3201 billion rupees.
However, these revenues are used to pay for day-to-day operations of the government, salaries of civil servants, pensions, welfare payments like Samurthi, Aswesuma and interest on loans. For that, 4.3 trillion rupees have been spent in 2023 alone.
While preparing the upcoming 2025 budget, whoever leads the government must maintain the loan agreements reached with the International Monetary Fund until 2028. Accordingly, by 2025, the foreign resource gap will not be sufficient for international transactions. As per last year’s experience it is projected to require US$ 5018 billion.
And any government that prepares the next budget has to cover this fund. For that, the International Monetary Fund has agreed to provide $663 million under the Extended Credit Facility. At the time, the International Monetary Fund agreed to provide US$700 million to cover the budget deficit. The World Bank has agreed to provide USD 400 million and the Asian Development Bank USD 300 million. A debt relief of USD 3655 million is expected under the external debt restructuring.
Also, will the parties who expect to come to power act according to the agreement that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to as Finance Minister? Isn’t it? The country should be informed that. “Accordingly, anyone who does not expect international cooperation should be told that there is no other alternative for the future budget of the country,” the minister said.
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