|
|
 |
 |
|||
The rising military expenditure was a deterrent to increasing the allocations through the Decentralised Budget from the present Rs. 5 million for development of the respective districts, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has told Government Parliamentarians, last night. This follows appeals from Government MPs to the President at the Group meeting, which was held at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday night. President Kumaratunga has pointed out that military expenditure for year 2000 had exceeded the budgeted figure by Rs. 30 billion, the political sources said. According to these sources, the President has also turned down a request from the UNP to have a special Parliamentary debate on the deliberations of the recently concluded Sri Lanka's Development Forum in Paris. The outcome of the Development Forum would be debated during the Budget Debate, which is scheduled for March and to be initiated by Deputy Finance Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris. Meanwhile, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Dr. Sarath Amunugama had assured the Group that the Government would not be levying a water tax and he had also made a presentation on the subject, the sources said.
|
Contact Information: Send mail to