{"id":208449,"date":"2020-03-06T12:57:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T07:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=208449"},"modified":"2020-03-10T13:21:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T07:51:52","slug":"citizens-await-the-pre-election-budgetary-position-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/citizens-await-the-pre-election-budgetary-position-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens Await The Pre-Election Budgetary Position Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chandra Jayaratne<\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chandra Jayaratne<\/p><\/div>\n

In terms of the section 16 (1) of the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act No. 2 of 2003 as amended, \u201cThe Secretary to the Ministry of the Minister, shall within three weeks of the publication our Proclamation or Order requiring the holding of a general election for the election of members of Parliament, cause to be released to the public a Pre-election Budgetary Position Report containing information on the fiscal position of the country\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The citizens eagerly await such release; and trust that the media will give it top priority publicity; and arrange analytical and professional talk shows around its disclosures; whilst the academia, business and activists will critique it and signal the derivative socio & macro-economic consequences in the short to medium term<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Section 17 (1) of the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act No. 2 of 2003 as amended, specifies that \u201cEvery Pre-election Budgetary Position Report shall contain the following information for the current financial year :\u2014<\/p>\n

(a) estimates of revenue and expenditure;<\/p>\n

(b) estimates of the Government borrowings;<\/p>\n

(c) the economic and other assumptions that have been used in preparing such estimates;<\/p>\n

(d) a statement of the risks, quantified where practicable, that may have material effect on the fiscal position, such as \u2014<\/p>\n

(i) contingent liabilities including guarantees and indemnities given by the Government under any Act;<\/em><\/p>\n

(ii) publicly announced proposals for spending by the Government that have not been included in the estimates referred to in paragraph (a); and<\/em><\/p>\n

(iii) Government negotiations in progress and not finalized; and<\/em><\/p>\n

(e) such other information as may be necessary to reflect fairly the financial position of the Government, as at the date of the said Report.<\/p>\n

Whereas, Section 17 (2) specifies that \u201cThe information in the Pre-election Budgetary Position Report, shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) take into account to the fullest possible extent any decision of the Government having a material effect on the fiscal position, and<\/p>\n

Section 17 (3) Nothing in this section shall be read or construed as requiring the inclusion in a Pre-election Budgetary Position Report, of any information, the disclosure of which would, in the opinion of the Minister given in writing\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

(a) be prejudicial to national security;<\/p>\n

(b) compromise Sri Lanka in a material way in negotiation, litigation or commercial activity.<\/p>\n

(4) Where information on any matter required to be included in a Pre-election Budgetary Position Report remains unchanged from the information on that matter included in a previous Budget Economic and Fiscal Position Report or a Mid-Year Budget Fiscal Position Report, the Pre-election Budgetary Position Report shall state that such information remains unchanged from the information included in either or both of these previous reports.<\/p>\n

It is important to recognize that Section 18 of the aforesaid Act stipulates that \u201c1 For the purpose of enabling the Secretary to prepare a Pre-Election Budgetary Position Report under section 16, the Minister shall, within one week of the publication of the Proclamation or Order requiring the holding of a General Election for the election of Members of Parliament, disclose to the Secretary, details of all Government decisions and other circumstances \u2014<\/b><\/p>\n

(a) within the knowledge of the Minister ; and<\/b><\/p>\n

(b) which have, or could have, material fiscal or economic implications<\/b>; and<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>further that Section 19 clarifies that \u201cEvery Pre-election Budgetary Position Report shall be accompanied by \u2014<\/b><\/p>\n

(a) statement signed by the Minister to the effect that the Minister has complied with the requirements of section 18 <\/b>;<\/p>\n

(b) a statement by the Secretary to the effect that the information in the report, to the fullest extent possible \u2014<\/b><\/p>\n

(i) reflects the best professional judgement of the officer\u2019s of the Ministry of the Minister ;<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>(ii) takes into account all economic and fiscal information available to the Ministry;<\/b><\/p>\n

(iii) incorporates the fiscal implications of the Government decisions and circumstances disclosed to him or her by the Minister under section 18.<\/b><\/p>\n

Arising from the Central Bank\u2019s Policy Announcement on 5<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> March 2020, citizens also await the Pre-election Budgetary Position Report, to further clarify the 2020 financial year related position of the Ministry of Finance on the following:<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Cumulative impact of last year\u2019s Easter Sunday attacks, Presidential Elections and Current years General Elections and COVID 19 crisis, on the Growth, Fiscal Deficit,\u00a0 <\/span>Inflation and Exchange Rates, Foreign Direct Investments and External Borrowings<\/p>\n

2. 2020 revised Targets for Growth, Per Capita GDP, Fiscal Deficit,\u00a0 <\/span>Inflation and Exchange Rate targets, Foreign Direct Investments and Savings and Investments Gap<\/p>\n

3. Outcomes of Government\u2019s discussions with China Development Bank and the relevant term sheet agreed upon to obtain a Loan up to USD 2 billion\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Expected outcomes from initiatives to secure external debt moratorium on bi-lateral and multi-lateral debt obligations<\/p>\n

5. Whether remaining tranche of the IMF funding and MCC Grant are likely to be received and what additional IMF and multilateral and bi-lateral assistance, aid and grants are expected<\/p>\n

6. Year 2020 planned for further external borrowing within and outside the previously approved borrowing limits, showing the expected term sheets and timing<\/p>\n

7. Plans for meeting external debt service obligations of 2020<\/p>\n

8. Expected changes in international risk ratings of Sri Lanka in 2020<\/p>\n

9. Expected Foreign Direct Investments\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

10. Expected Worker remittances<\/p>\n

11. Estimated tourist arrivals and expected revenue<\/p>\n

12. Assumptions on Energy prices and expected outflows on energy supplies<\/p>\n

13. Expected State Sector and Private Sector Credit Growth<\/p>\n

14. Expected sector performances<\/p>\n

15. Whether the assumptions used in developing the 2020 report has taken cognizance of<\/p>\n

* Other elections due in 2020 related costs and likely economic slowdown<\/em><\/p>\n

* Availability of uninterrupted power supplies<\/em><\/p>\n

* Ethno- religious harmony driving the economy<\/em><\/p>\n

* GSP + benefits remaining to be available<\/em><\/p>\n

* Contingencies on environmental related calamities and natural disasters<\/em><\/p>\n

* Stability of the Banking and Finance and Plantations Sectors<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":206709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nCitizens Await The Pre-Election Budgetary Position Report - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/citizens-await-the-pre-election-budgetary-position-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Citizens Await The Pre-Election Budgetary Position Report - 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