New Vote on Account in the offing

A Vote on Account will be introduced along with a tax relief package separately in Parliament to implement special measures to provide relief to the people by reducing the rising Cost of Living.

After a lapse of around four years, the country’s once, most powerful official – Dr. P.B. Jayasundera – is back in the helm of public administration as the Presidential Secretary and another prominent official S. R. Attygalle as the Treasury Secretary in preparing the vote on account of the new caretaker government.

The vote on account will cover four months of spending to April and the Treasury will introduce relief measures to tackle immediate issues like cost of living and fulfil other promises in the manifesto of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The new vote on account comes with many challenges as a result of the annulment of the previous vote on account presented by former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

The 2020 vote on account presented and approved by Parliament on October 23 just before presidential election is not valid anymore as the minister in charge has resigned, official sources said.

Twenty ministries and 37 state ministries of the new government will be allocated necessary finances on the basis of previous allocations made to each ministry by the

Treasury during the first four months of 2020, the sources said.

Thereafter when presenting the 2020 budget for the full calendar year – that is after a new government is elected at the March or April Parliamentary polls – the 2020 vote on account estimates will also be included.

New tax concessions approved by the cabinet of ministers will also be presented in Parliament for approval along with the Vote on Account, sources said.

The Finance Minister has the option of presenting an interim budget with revenue and expenditure proposals in Parliament instead of a Vote on Account as it is just an interim permission to spend money, sources added.