The Government will present a ‘Vote on Account’ for two months in Parliament this week and will present a full-budget in mid February, UNP MP Mayantha Dissanayake said. Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, he said the ‘Vote on Account’ is to meet the Government’s expenditure for January and February.
Budget 2019, which was previously scheduled for November 5, did not find its way to Parliament due to sudden political changes made by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26.
The sudden change of the Prime Minister by the President led to a political standoff between the UPFA and the UNP also making adverse impacts on the country’s economy.
A ‘Vote on Account’ is presented when a new government has just been sworn in and they have had no time to present a proper budget.
This procedure is a convention of Parliament and finds no mention in either the Constitution or the Standing Orders. In a Vote of Account, Parliament does not pass funds for new projects, only to those that are in progress. Departments and public agencies are allocated funds to the extent that services essential to the community have to be maintained.
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