In a note to the Cabinet, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, stated that the Government revenue at present (January 2023) is far below the monthly expenditure for the month of January 2023.
As a result, the President noted that the General Treasury finds it challenging to meet all expenditures at this moment, except for payments for salaries, pensions, welfare, pharmaceuticals and debt servicing.
Therefore, President Wickremesinghe pointed out that the Government expenditure will have to be curtailed further / postponed until planned revenue to be raised on the recent tax revisions is realized.
He noted that the General Treasury will formulate a priority criterion for this purpose. Until then, the release of imprest will be curtailed. Furthermore, the President pointed out that public officers should refrain from obtaining goods/services on credit basis, and any officer who violates this will be held personally responsible for such expenditure.
The Presidential Media Division is fully responsible for socializing the views, actions, decisions and statements of His Excellency the President through the media. Electronic, print and new media will contribute to this through a credible and engaging approach.
The media department works as a source of information on the subject of the President’s vision and mission by maintaining good coordination with public and private media organizations and journalists.
National policies, plans and measures are explained to the people through the use of high quality media. Identify the fallacies and reveal the truth.
