ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s 2023 budget is aimed at creating a modern economy targeting the island nation’s youth and looking to go beyond the deeply entrenched mentality of a welfare economy, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
In a notable departure from traditional budgets that focus on price and wage revisions, Budget 2023 is focused on a modern economy that isn’t limited to International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations, Wickreemsinghe said presenting the budget to parliament on Monday November 14.
Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the finance minister said the country is in debt because of the past budgets’ preoccupation with welfare measures.
“The budget is not limited to the IMF recommendations. We will move to create a modern economy,” Wickremesimghe told the parliament.
He said the budget will aim at increasing government revenue to 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 from 8.3 percent at the end of 2021. (Colombo/Nov14/2022)