All set for a people’s friendly Budget for 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance will submit the budget for the year 2013 in the Parliament on the 8th of this month.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday reviewed the final draft of the budget. The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. P.B. Jayasundara also associated him in this review.

As in the previous years, the President obtained views and suggestions from various sectors, groups and associations to formulate the budget for the next year as well.

The economic analysts believe that the budget will be geared towards sustainable development and it will be people friendly. Seven budgets have been submitted so far since 2005 based on the Mahinda Chinthana. The economic analysts also point out that the 2013 budget will make Mahinda Chinthana a reality.

The local entrepreneurs as well as the investors also expect that the budget will be geared towards development. The deficit has been gradually brought down. The foreign loan component has also been reduced as a percentage of the GDP. It is the belief of the economic analysts that these two sectors will be further reduced in this budget.Meanwhile, many of the Private Sector companies have made remarkable strides in their performance for the 3rd quarter of 2012.  Around 30 companies have reported earnings for the 3rd quarter amounting to 10.37 billion rupees registering an increase by 64.3% over the corresponding period of last financial year. They say that this impressive performance coupled with new proposals in the Budget will encourage investors to take a more optimistic outlook on listed equities. They also point out that foreign investors remaining buoyant with inflows being a record Rs. 34 billion plus, attractiveness of some of the blue chips based on improved earnings will increase among non-nationals.(niz)