Description

President Ranil Wickramsinghe as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and
National Policy has instructed the Treasury and Finance Ministry Secretary to only provide
finance provisions to the essential Government expenses in order to maintain public services
until the state revenue situation improves. The list of expenditures to be funded include
salaries, debt servicing, pensions, medical supplies for hospitals, subsidies for low-income
groups, scholarships, farmers’ pensions, school nutrition programs, payments for war heroes
and disabled soldiers, utility payments, food supplies for hospitals and prisons, among others,
and does not mention about the election expenses, even though the election commission has
requested from the treasury to release Rs.770 million for Local Government Election
expenditure for the month of February.