Govt. allocates Rs. 10 b for Presidential and General elections in 2024

The Government has earmarked Rs. 10 billion to cover the expenses of the upcoming Presidential and General elections scheduled for this year. 

“The funds required for conducting Provincial Council elections and Local Government elections in 2025 are covered by the Budget allocated for that fiscal year owing to the limited financial situation,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

Highlighting the financial limitations, he described that the total revenue of the Government is not sufficient to cover the recurrent expenses.

“Balancing the revenue and expenses of a fiscal year is the most daunting task of the Government. We are in the process of finding mechanisms to address the long-term budget deficits incurred and amidst that we have managed to allocate Rs. 10 billion to conduct the Presidential and General elections this year,” Gunawardena explained. 

In addition to the allocation of funds, the Cabinet has decided to introduce revisions to applicable election laws. 

These revisions will be made subject to amendments in Parliament, if necessary, based on the recommendations scheduled to be presented by the test commission. 

The test commission was established under the authority of the Test Commissions Act (Authority 393) No. 17 of 1948, as declared by the Extraordinary Gazette notification No. 2354/06 dated 16.10.2023.