Budget 2019 : Empowering people and nurturing the poor

The Finance Ministry has said that this year’s budget deficit stands at 4.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) when compared to last year’s deficit of 5.3 percent.

A sum of Rs 4550 billion has been allocated for the government’s expenditure this year while the expected income of the government is Rs 2400 billion, the Finance Ministry said adding that the government hopes to reduce the deficit to 3.5 percent by next year.

The prime focus of this year’s budget would be "empowering the people and nurturing the poor", the Ministry said in a statement.

Facilities concerning basic education, health and livelihood are also expected to be enhanced in the budget which would be tabled before Parliament tomorrow (Mar 05).

Meanwhile, the primary balance of the government’s funds which had recorded a surplus after almost a decade is expected to be maintained throughout this year, the Ministry of Finance noted in a press release.

The increase in primary balance has provided the government an opportunity to pay off debts obtained by the government, the release added.

Accordingly, Rs 2200 billion has been allocated for this year’s debt servicing purposes while the amount of debt is expected to be reduced to Rs 2079 billion.