The government has taken a decision to decrease funding the budget deficit for 2018 from Treasury bonds and Treasury bills by Rs 10,000 mn, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.
In 2017, the government has filled a fund requirement of Rs.70000 mn from Treasury bonds and treasury bills, Minister Samaraweera explained. In the next year, the government will lessen it by Rs. 10,000 mn, he pointed out.
Minister Samaraweera further said that the government has taken steps to strengthen the Parliament system which is responsible for finance and debt management in the country.
He said the government has decided to decrease the amount of bank loans taken to fill the budget deficit, as well.
He pointed out that the government took Rs.170,000 mn as bank loans in 2017 to fill the budget deficit where as in 2018, they are planning to lessen it by Rs. 50000 mn.
The government is to rely more on projects and programmes on foreign funding and to increase foreign commercial credit to fill the budget deficit in the coming year, Samaraweera said.
He also pointed out that since Sri Lanka came forward in the rankings of upper-middle income countries, the process of taking foreign loans has changed for Sri Lanka as well.