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| Sunday, 2 October 2005 |
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Budget proposals implemented, targets achieved The maiden Budget of the UPFA government was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama early November last year which most analysts welcomed as home grown, development-oriented with a major focus on Agriculture and Small and Medium scale Industries to drive the country forward although the Opposition tagged it as a Robin Hood Budget. With about five weeks to go for the budget it is time to take stock of what has been achieved by the government amidst facing the worst natural catastrophe, the tsunami, which claimed more than 40,000 lives and damaged property and buildings worth billions of rupees in the Southern, Eastern and the Northern coastal belt of the country. In addition the country also had to face political disputes in the ruling party and a spate of strikes. The oil shock, the worst external factor affected the country's economy. Therefore in the backdrop of this scenario it is commendable for the government to achieve a growth rate of 5.2 per cent in 2004 and achieve some targets though it would have been ideal if all the budget proposals could have been implemented by now. To give a boost to the rural sector the government proposed to set up the SME Bank with Rs. 5 billion and it is now functioning. The bank has already granted financial assistance to 12 institutions engaged in various sectors. The SME Bank has also helped to modernise small and medium paddy mills in the country. The SME Authority is another important institution proposed to facilitate the SME sector and the authority will be set up shortly. The government allocated Rs. 100 million to set up the National Enterprise Development Authority and it was established recently. In addition the government has provided employment to 40,000 unemployed graduates while the farming community was given a boost with the Dahasak Wew project of the government. For the certification of organic products 15 applications have been received while the implementing agency the EDB will prepare the guidelines within two weeks. Action is being taken to protect Ceylon Cinnamon under a certification mark in terms of the Intellectual Property Law of Sri Lanka. A model project for cinnamon peeling under good manufacturing practices (GMP) has been set up at Kosgoda and board approval has been obtained to implement it on a cost sharing basis up to 50 %.(Maximum of Rs. 0.1 million. The Dahas Diriya scheme was introduced as an incentive scheme for non traditional exports and up to date 75 exporters were awarded cheques and certificates of investment on August 29. To implement the cess fund for the foundry industry the gazette notification has been published while a draft scheme has been formulated to assist the industry while a new gazette notification will be tabled in Parliament soon. To implement the integrated agriculture model farm project program a committee is evaluating proposals and guidelines to select appropriate proposals have been drawn up. The government has allocated Rs. 30 million to establish offshore export shopping villages. The product categories have been identified while a proposal from the State Engineering Corporation was discussed by the EDB, SLTB and State Engineering Corporation. The proposals have been submitted for observations to the EDB while a 33,000 square feet floor area at the Shaw Wallace Building was allocated for a permanent display centre where retail marketing will be done only in foreign currency. To establish the Accredition board the government has allocated Rs 10 million. The Ministry of Science and Technology has prepared the Bill and it was submitted to Parliament. The first reading has been done. To give a boost to advanced technology the Finance Minister proposed several incentives for advanced technology. A scheme has been formulated for this propose to grant duty free concessions to import new machinery using new technology and the scheme has been in operation from June 2005. Twenty-eight applications were received while 12 applications were recommended to grant duty free concessions. To solve the transport problem the government re-established the Ceylon
Transport Board last week.(SG) |
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