Sri Lanka govt expects to borrow Rs1.8 trillion in Budget 2018

Sep 13, 2017 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s total borrowing requirement from both foreign and local sources for next year will be 1,813 billion rupees, a cabinet decision on the Appropriation Bill for 2018 showed. Government revenue at the prevailing rates structure and foreign grants have been estimated to be around 2,175 billion rupees. The total expenditure provision for 2018, which includes debt servicing, is estimated at 3,982 billion rupees without including budget proposals to be introduced at the budget. Provisions have been made under special laws to service public debt and payments of widows and orphans pension amounting to 2,005 billion rupees. The expenditure provision covered in the appropriation bill has been estimated as 1,977 billion rupees which consists of 1,309 billion rupees for recurrent expenditure and 668 billion rupees for capital expenditure. The provision requirement for advance account activities is 6 billion rupees. The appropriation bill for the budget 2018 is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament at the end of this month. The budget speech is scheduled for 9th November, and the vote for the third reading will be held on 9th December.