Finance Ministry officials were taken completely by surprise with the government’s announcement on Friday of delaying budget 2010 till July and presenting a second vote-on-account, informed sources said. Earlier a budget was expected to be presented in May/June.
Rising global crude oil prices over the past few months will increase Sri Lanka’s oil import bill in addition to driving up prices of other imports such as fertilizer and chemicals.
Global crude prices reached $83.25 on Thursday this week, dropping slightly from US$85 to US$87 per barrel range a last week but almost doubling from a year ago when the price per barrel in April 2009 was $44.
