It was revealed during the meeting of the Committee on Public Finance that 74 per cent of the 2020 fiscal revenue has been received so far.
Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury S.R. Attygalle in response to a question raised by the Chairman of the Committee Parliamentarian Anura Priyadarshana Yapa regarding Government Revenue for the year 2020, said Rs.1,124 billion out of the expected total Government Revenue of Rs.1,580 billion has been received.
The Committee on Public Finance met in Parliament on Thursday under the Chairmanship of Parliamentarian Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Members of the Committee, State Minister Susil Premajayantha and Members of Parliament M. A. Sumanthiran, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Dilan Perera and A. Pasqual, the Parliament Communication Division said in a statement.
The Committee met to review the allocation of funds within six weeks of the presentation of the Budget in accordance with Standing Order 121 and to submit a report to Parliament on the estimation.
Dr. Harsha de Silva pointed out that it is very important that all data related to the budget should be extremely accurate as it will have a severe impact on the future economic situation of the country, both locally and internationally.
At that time, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa asked the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury whether there could be any positive expectations regarding the revenue for the year 2020 and, he noted that while the economic downturn in the first quarter of the year was real, expectations for the second and third quarters were very positive.
Members of the Committee on Public Finance State Minister Susil Premajayantha and MPs M.A Sumanthiran, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Dilan Perera and A. Pasqual, said that if the data were correct, the country’s economy would be in a good status. The Committee members also agreed to present the Second Report on the budget in the future.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa informed the Committee that Parliamentarians Hesha Vithanage and Chaminda Wijesiri have resigned from the Committee.