The Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I wish to briefly state certain matters regarding the Appropriation Bill and the situation arising from the change of Ministries. There were concerns raised that there is a procedural and legal issue. In fact, no such issue arises. What mainly happened was that two Ministries were amalgamated into one. Therefore, the funds already allocated under the relevant Heads and Programmes to those two Ministries are being transferred to the new Ministry. Additionally, a new Ministry has been created. For that Ministry also, funds are transferred under existing Heads and reallocations. However, one matter arises: the creation of the personal staff Vote of the new Minister requires an additional amount. But even for that, a Supplementary Estimate is not necessary, because under Section 6(1) of our Appropriation Act, it is provided that in an emergency, the Treasury’s miscellaneous expenses can be utilized. Only a small amount is required, which need not be presented to Parliament, as it can be met under Treasury miscellaneous expenses in terms of Section 6(1) of the Appropriation Act. In any event, the total Government expenditure of Rs. 7,190 billion, as approved by the Appropriation Act, will not change in any manner, Hon. Deputy Speaker.