Sri Lanka Budget 2014 Salient Features

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa presenting the  Budget 2014 in Parliament  today (Nov.21) said an economic growth of 7.7% was achieved in the 3rd quarter compared to 6.4% in 2013.

Following  are  the  highlights of the Budget -2014 presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament today.

• Cost of Living Allowance to be increased for public sector
• The Cost of Living allowance to all public servants  will be increased by Rs.1200 to Rs.7800 per month from January 2014.
• Increase of the Cost of Living allowance to pensioners who retired before 2006 by Rs.600 and by Rs.400 to others.
• The President also requested Private Sector Employers who do not adjust salaries of  employees in line with the cost-of-living-allowance to suitably increase the wages of their employees
• Permit for Transportation of Furniture to be abolished
• Permit scheme for transportation of furniture will be abolished with the objective of promoting the locally manufactured furniture.
• Farmer Pension Scheme
• A pension scheme to provide a minimum of  Rs.1250 as a monthly pension for farmers over 63 years of age will be commenced from January 2014.

Child Nutrition

• To allocate required funds and employ nutrition specialists in each district, teach the importance of proper nutrition to school children and carry out community level  mobile clinics to promote balanced nutrition.
• Interest free loans for women entrepreneurs
• To implement a Women Micro Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme against which Regional Development Banks and SME Banking Units of Commercial Banks will provide working capital loans up to Rs.250,000 without requiring security  up to the age limit of 68 years
• Laws to be implemented to prevent outright purchase of lands in Sri Lanka by foreigners
• Laws to be implemented so that foreigners will be allowed to obtain lands in Sri Lanka only on lease agreements effective from 2014 and no outright purchase of lands will be allowed.

(Courtesy: Government News Portal)