Public officials should ensure budget promises are fulfilled or not: Eran

As a debt-ridden and bankrupt country - it is upon the public officials of this country to ensure that budget promises are fulfilled, said SJB Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne. He also emphasised that all heads of ministries and departments should fulfill their accountability and responsibility in this regard.

In general, governments in this country do not attain state revenue presented by budgets. The revenue forecast in the budget of 2023 will decrease by about 15%. It has been estimated that the state income in 2024 will increase by 45% over the actual income in 2023. It can be said right now, that this is not achievable. But this should be analyzed, he stressed. 

“State revenue in 2024 is projected to be about Rs. 4 trillion and expenditure about Rs. 8 trillion, a deficit nearing Rs. 4 trillion. Country’s debt is 128% of GDP, with plans to bring it down to 95% by 2032. Debt restructuring is essential, without which the goal to bring down debt to 95% by 2032 will not be attainable. We are happy that the International Monetary Fund has approved the second loan tranche and the agreement of the lending countries to restructure debt.”

Pointing out that on large-scale foreign-funded projects of which there are approximately 116, the MP said that 61 are underperforming and funding has been suspended for 31. He emphasised the importance of adopting methodology to assess for appraisal performance and progress, driving implementation.

“The budget proposes the establishment of new investment zones. There were such proposals since 2017 but none had come to fruition to date. The Auditor General himself had stated that albeit budget allocations, investment zones have not been setup. In this budget, there is emphasis on a National Artificial Intelligence Center with a budget allocation of Rs. 3 Billion,” the MP observed. 

Wickramaratne queried if there had been an appraisal done to this proposed investment with a projected ROI. Access to information on government projects on appraisal and performance is minimal. Inability to obtain information about government projects has increased from 12% in 2016 to 97% by 2023.