Annual Report 2008 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

2. Fiscal Developments - 2008
66
Table 2.17
Domestic Petroleum Price Adjustments-2007/2008
Item 2007 2008
Rs/Lit
December 14th Jan 25th May 06th Nov 05th Dec 31st Dec
Petrol 117.00 127.00 157.00 142.00 122.00 120.00
Diesel 75.00 80.00 110.00 80.00 - 70.00
Kerosene 68.00 70.00 80.00 60.00 - 50.00
Fuel Oil 180 ct 51.70 61.70 71.70 51.70 - 41.70
Fuel Oil 380 ct 46.65 56.65 66.65 45.00 - 35.00
Source: Department of Fiscal Policy
The Government was able to stabilize the exchange rate
during the first three quarters of the year supported by
foreign inflows through enhanced remittances and bond
issues carried out in international markets.
With the intention of improving government debt
management, measures were taken to ease the problem of
bunching in the Treasury bill maturities by the issuance of
longer maturity bills. The Treasury bill market was further
opened up for foreign investment which allowed to invest
in Treasury bills up to a maximum limit of 10 percent of the
outstanding stock, with a view to reduce pressure on the
domestic market. Strict Treasury operations through the
single account system also helped to minimize the idled
funds in government accounts thereby saving a considerable
amount of interest payable by the government. This system
also helped to reduce the transaction cost incurred by
government agencies.
Table 2.18
Current Expenditure, 2006 - 2008 (1)
Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka
Annual Report 2008
Rs. mn
Item 2006 2007 2008
Current Expenditure 547,960 622,758 743,710
Salaries & wages 175,031 214,160 239,078
Other Goods & Services 77,994 78,472 121,250
Interest payments 150,778 182,681 212,475
Foreign 16,990 21,311 24,208
Domestic 133,787 161,370 188,266
Pensions 58,006 68,822 74,920
Losses of Railway, Postal and C.T.B. 11,767 10,137 12,157
Assistance to other Statutory Agencies 27,376 26,248 27,192
Fertilizer Subsidy 11,867 11,000 26,450
Welfare payments and subsidies 35,141 31,238 30,186
As a % of GDP
Total Current Expenditure 19.5 17.4 17.2
Salaries & Wages 6.0 6.0 5.4
Other Goods & Services 2.6 2.2 2.8
Interest Payments 5.1 5.1 4.8
Pensions 1.9 1.9 1.7
Losses of Enterprises 0.4 0.3 0.3
Assistance to other Statutory Agencies 0.9 0.7 0.6
Source: Department of National Budget Department
(1) Figures as per Economic Classification