Despite difficult fiscal situation:

Government continues welfare projects

Uditha KUMARASINGHE

The overall public expenditure of the Government for the first four months of 2009 stood at Rs.389,788 million which constituted of Rs.308,416 million of recurrent expenditure and Rs.81,372 of capital expenditure, according to the Mid Year Fiscal Position Report 2009.

Even under a difficult fiscal situation, the Government has spent a sum of Rs.30,215 million on welfare payments and subsidies up to May 2009 compared to Rs.26,813 million spent in the corresponding period of 2008.

According to the Mid Year Fiscal Position Report 2009 of the Finance Ministry, the welfare assistance provided in support of the poorer segments of society, disabled persons, differently abled soldiers and vulnerable groups was Rs.10,246 million in 2009.

A total expenditure of Rs.11,960 million had been utilised on education during the first four months of 2009. In addition, the cost of welfare programs implemented by the Government for the benefit of schoolchildren by providing free school textbooks, uniforms, school season tickets and free Dhamma school textbooks amounted to Rs.1,280 million.

The Government expenditure on health by the end of April 2009 was Rs.11,725 million covering both Health and indigenous medicine sectors. In order to maintain a safe and effective medical supply to Government institutions, Rs.1,101 million has been utilised on medical supplies up to April 2009, the report said.

According to a Finance Ministry spokesman ‘Uthuru Vasanthaya,a new initiative commenced in 2009 was mainly targeted to restore the livelihoods of the people who were under the grip of terror in the Northern Province. After liberating the North and East from terrorism, Rs. 2,550 million has been utilised for a speedy implementation of reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure under this initiative during the first four months of 2009.

Resettlement activities of IDPs in the Northern and Eastern Provinces continued in 2009 at a cost of Rs.4,328 million. A significant amount of money has been utilised under North East Housing Reconstruction project and Protected Relief and Recovery program amounting to Rs.1,348 million and Rs.2,023 million respectively. The fertiliser subsidy scheme targeting smallholder agriculture to assist particularly, low-income farmers continued in 2009. Paddy farmers enjoyed all varieties of fertilizer at a subsidised price of Rs.350 per 50 Kg bag. The Urea fertilizer subsidy scheme was also continued in 2009 to the plantation sector targetting those who owned less than 50 acres in extent at a subsidised price of Rs.1000 per 50 Kg bag, he said.

Meanwhile, the Government’s investment on the road sector was around Rs.18,000 million up to April 2009. This includes Rs.6,542 million on express way development of which Rs.5,158 million was for Southern Express Way development and Rs.3,968 million on development of highways islandwide. In addition, Rs.1,689 million has been spent on the construction of bridges and flyovers while Rs.1,788 million has been utilized on widening and improving of roads in all provinces during the first four months of 2009.

The expenditure on Maga Neguma, the islandwide rural infrastructure development program amounted to Rs.1,335 million by end May 2009. During 2009, around 682 Km of rural roads were rehabilitated benefiting 32,819 families. Over 6,600 Km of rural roads under Maga Neguma program have been rehabilitated at a cost of Rs.9,830 million so far. Gama Neguma the major initiative to empower the rural economy through creation of an economically prosperous village was further extended at a cost of Rs.1,422 million in the first four months of 2009.

Financial assistance amounting to Rs.365 million were provided under Jathika Saviya program to develop infrastructure facilities and resettlement of people from the areas liberated from terrorist activities. Apart from this, Rs.100 million has been spent under Negenahira Navodaya for resettlement activities in the Eastern Province, the spokesman said.

The Government also continued in channeling enhanced resources with a commitment to accelerate development programs, targeting the rural sector especially the newly liberated areas through rural development initiatives such as Gama Neguma, Maga Neguma, Uthuru Vasanthaya and other pro poor growth development initiatives. The momentum gained with respect to key national infrastructure development projects consisting of roads and bridges, power generation, ports, irrigation, water supply and human development during the past years was maintained in 2009 as well. The total public investment amounted to Rs.85 billion during the period from January to April 2009, an increase of 14 percent over the same period of 2008, the spokesman said.

The nutritional intervention programs conducted with the intention of improving maternal and childcare continued with enhanced costs. Poshana Malla, a program to provide nutritional food to expectant mothers and schoolchildren were continued with an increased cost of Rs.183 million while utilising Rs.586 million for nutritional food for schoolchildren in the first five months of 2009. Other nutritional programs such as the infant milk food subsidy and Triposha Program were continued at a cost of Rs.431 million, he added.