Govt. expenditure to be further curtailed or postponed - President

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the Cabinet that Government expenditure will have to be further curtailed or postponed until planned revenue is raised through revised taxes.

The President in the capacity of the Finance Minister has submitted a note to the Cabinet explaining the current financial position.

His note said that this month’s revenue is far below the monthly expenditure.

The President has also instructed all public officers to refrain from obtaining goods/services on credit basis. Any officer who violates this will be held personally responsible for such expenditure, he has stressed. 

The Note said:

“The Government revenue at present (January 2023) is far below the monthly expenditure for the month of January 2023. Therebefore, the General Treasury finds it difficult to meet all expenditure at this moment, except for payments for salaries, pensions, welfare, pharmaceuticals and debt servicing.

The Government expenditure will have to be curtailed further/postponed until planned revenue to be raised on the recent tax revisions is realized. The General Treasury will formulate a priority criteria for this purpose. Until then the release of imprest will be curtailed. Furthermore, public officers should refrain from obtaining goods/services on credit basis, and any officer who violates this will be held personally responsible for such expenditure.”