Appropriation Bill for 2019 presented in parliament

Feb 05, 2019 (LBO) - The Appropriation Bill for the year 2019 was presented in parliament by Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka, Tuesday. The Cabinet in early January approved the Appropriation Bill for 2019 with an annual expenditure of Rs 4,470 billion with the Ministry of Defence secured the highest allocation of 393 billion rupees. The Ministry of Education will receive an unchanged 105 billion while the Health Ministry will get 187 billion rupees for 2019. Other noteable allocation include the Agriculture Ministry 114 billion rupees, Public Administration and Disaster Management 263 billion rupees, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry 292 billion rupees and Megapolis and Western Development Ministry 50 billion rupees. The budget deficit will be 4.8 percent of the GDP. The State revenue which was 11.5 percent of the GDP in the year 2014 was gradually increased in 2015 and, it is expected to be increased to 15 percent of the GDP this year.