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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Budget prioritises education, health by Jayantha Sri Nissanka The second budget of the UPFA Government has focused on the theme "Balanced Economic Development" as a prerequisite to achieve a double digit GDP growth rate in a few years. The budget has increased more allocations for the development of education, health, agriculture, rural infrastructure sectors and more facilities will be extended to the Small and Medium Industries. The budget has increased allocations by Rs. 10 billion from Rs. 26 billion in the first budget in order to upgrade the educational facilities in the country, Finance Ministry sources told the Sunday Observer. The UPFA Government has given more consideration to education development as educational opportunities could be the only means for rural youth to productively contribute to the development goals of the country, he said. As a part of creating more educational opportunities, new vocational training courses will introduced and traditional courses will be improved to match international standards in order to enable these youth to find jobs abroad. The Budget has also increased allocation by Rs. 6 billion for the health sector. It aims to improve facilities in base hospitals as well as upgrade rural hospitals in order to reduce the work load of base hospitals. The budget will extend the fertilizer subsidy as it is and introduce a new system for farmers to market their produce. Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told the Sunday Observer that most of the Governments in the past only concentrated in developing the private sector while weakening the public sector. "But this budget aims to develop both private and public sectors to achieve a balanced economic development", he noted. Deputy Minister Siyambalapitiya emphasised that the budget has given priorities to reducing the cost of living, increasing the purchasing power of people by way of increasing their income, and assisting economically deprived sections in the country. He noted that the budget is not linked to the manifesto of Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse as the work of the budget was started as early as last March. The Finance Ministry invited proposals from the public, Trade Chambers and others to prepare the budget proposals for next year long before this Supreme Court decision to hold the Presidential election, this year, he added. |
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