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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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Budget benefits periphery by Elmo Leonard Sri Lanka's 2006 budget was not a political exercise and had nothing to do with the forthcoming presidential elections, Secretary to the Treasury, Dr P B Jayasundera said. A lot of professional inputs had gone into the budget. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) President Indrajith Fernando said that most of the proposals of trade chambers and professional bodies had been included in the budget. The implementation of the budget, however, was a matter of governance. Both major political parties had agreed on the eradication of poverty among its people. A dialogue on the budget, organised by The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and ICASL was held in Colombo Friday last, disallowing political criticism. Dr Jayasundera referred to the previous budget which advocated pro-poor and pro-growth measures. The new budget is pro-provincial and pro-export oriented. This thinking conformed to that of India's prime minister and economist Dr Manmohan Singh's design for eliminating poverty in India. The budget concentrates on infrastructure development; roads, electricity and transport have to be improved. The nation's 60 to 70 percent dependence on security hazard and expensive fuel for electricity generation had to be changed to the use of coal power, Dr Jayasundera said. The World Bank had already agreed to release $100 million for the construction of roadways. The major mega highways planned, would be built. $300 million had been secured for the widening of the roadway from Colombo to Matara. Work would begin from Kalutara to Matara and the roadway would be extended to Hambantota. The roadway between Colombo to Kandy would be widened. In all construction work, local contractors would be given priority, and loans would be made available to them, Dr Jayasundera said. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
