• Minister Amaraweera says part of Rs. 10.05 billion income from selling fertiliser used  

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera stated that the Government had to use a portion of the Rs. 10.05 billion earned by the Department of Agrarian Development by selling urea and other types of fertilisers in the last Yala cultivating season and the 2022/23 Maha season in order to pay the salaries of public servants.

Speaking during a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture, he said: “The Department earned a sum of Rs. 10 billion by selling urea and other types of fertilisers during the last Yala and Maha seasons. The money was transferred to the Treasury, and the Government had to use a portion of that money to pay the due salaries of the public servants last December, 2022.”

Speaking further, he said that although the Government had made financial allocations for the Ministries in the interim Budget for the year 2022, it was not possible to provide the entire amount of money allocated, due to the economic crisis in the country. Similarly, he said that the Government has allocated Rs. 115 billion for the Ministry through the 2023 Budget, but that the Ministry will not be getting the total amount this year as well.

Meanwhile, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe emphasised on Tuesday (10) that the public should refrain from unnecessarily worrying about the recent revelations made pertaining to the payment of public servants’ salaries, pensions, and Samurdhi allowances. He assured that priority is being given to the payment of the salaries of public servants, pensions, and other welfare benefit schemes.

However, speaking to the media on the same day, Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Bandula Gunawardana warned that owing to the country's depleting Treasury funds, the payment of public servants’ salaries, pensions, and welfare schemes has become difficult. He noted that as the income earned by the Government through taxes for the first few months of 2023 will be drastically low due to the economic crisis, the payment of the Samurdhi allowance is likely to be delayed by nearly two weeks.