The total Government expenditure has been estimated at around Rs 3982 billion for next year with Finance and the Mass Media Ministry budget taking the lion’s share of Rs.227 billion in the Appropriation Bill for the Financial year 2018 which was presented to Parliament yesterday.
According to the Appropriation Bill which was presented by acting Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne, the estimated expenditure for Finance and Mass Media Ministry is Rs 227,572,088,000. The total expenditure of the government has been estimated (Rs 3,982,367,818,000). Estimated expenditure for the President for next year in the Appropriation Bill is Rs 10 billion ( Rs 10,373,525,000). The estimated amount for the Prime Minister is Rs 1,772, 680, 000. The allocation for Defence is Rs 290, 711, 375, 000 while the estimated expenditure for Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Ministry is Rs 178, 399,998,000. The sum set apart for the Higher Education and Highways Ministry is Rs 182, 757, 000,000 while the Education Ministry estimated ex[enditure is Rs 102, 880, 000,000. The amount allocatred for Disaster Management is Rs 5, 810,700, 000.
Ther Regional Development Ministry budget is Rs 972,755,000 while estimated expenditure for the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry is Rs 51,109,160,000)
Among other allocations are Ministries of Buddha Sasana (Rs 1,462,955,000), National Policies and Economic Affairs (Rs 25,734,830,000), Disaster Management (Rs 5,810,700,000), Posts, Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs (13,530,800,000), Justice (Rs 11,149,911,000), Foreign Affairs (Rs 10,778,550,000), Transport and Civil Aviation (42,136,737,000), Agriculture (Rs 23,789,947,000), Power and Renewable energy (Rs 837,883,000), Women and Child Affairs (Rs 3,009,243,000), Home Affairs (Rs 44,100,000,000), Lands and Parliamentary Reforms (Rs 9,097,252,000), Housing and Construction (Rs 11,247,500,000), Social Empowerment and Welfare (Rs 18,578,578,000), Sports ( Rs 5,425,000,000), Industry and Commerce (Rs 9,080,878,000), Petroleum Resources Development (Rs 308,800,000), Rural Economic Affairs (Rs 7,238,610,000), National Coexistence, Dialogue and Official Languages (Rs 762,570,000),Public Enterprise Development (Rs 5,572,400,000), Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs (Rs 1,024,477,000), Sustainable Development and Wildlife (4,778,970,000), Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs (8,544,709,000), Ports and Shipping (Rs 2,548,280,000), Foreign Employment (Rs 686,055,000), Science, Technology and Research (Rs 5,642,200,000), Primary Industries (Rs 3,511,00,000), Irrigation and Water Resources Management (Rs 24,631,380,000), Skills Development and Vocational Training (Rs 10,882,006,000), Development Strategy and International Trade (Rs 2,097,000,000), Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure (Rs 2,270,142,000), Labour and Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development (Rs 5,231,381,000), National Integration and Reconciliation (Rs 2,770,318,000), City Planning and Water Supply (Rs 27,862,217,000), Hill Country, New Villages Infrastructure and Community Development (Rs 3,748,375,000), Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs (Rs 11,425,912,000), Plantations Industries (Rs 8,644,800,000) and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development (Rs 7,758,195,000).
The Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill will commence on November 10 with Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera presenting budget proposals to the House. The Second Reading debate would continue till Dec 10. The budget deficit for 2018 will be Rs 1.8 trillion.