The paper presented to the House by Prime Minister DM Jayaratne said that Rs 285,000,000 had been allotted to provide relief to people affected by drought in eight districts namely, Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Moneragala. Another allocation of Rs 200,000,000 had been made to cover the expenses of rehabilitation of damaged properties in Beruwala area due to recent incidents.

“This supplementary provision does not change the approved total expenditure limits of the annual estimate by Parliament. The allocation of such purposes has been made under the Project of Budgetary Support Services and Contingent Liabilities of the Department of National Budget and it is under the limit of the approved annual budget.

Therefore, either the borrowing limit or the maximum limit of total expenditure will not be increased due to granting of these supplementary provisions. The purpose of this provision is to facilitate the smooth conduct of public finance management in a more efficient and effective manner,” a note on the supplementary allocations presented to Parliament today said. (Special Reporter/HC)