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President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Minister of Finance and Planning is due to present the Budget 2015 shortly before the Parliament.
16:32 First reading of the Budget 2015 concluded.
16:26 Proposal made to increase the minimum salary of a private sector employee to be Rs. 10,000 by 2015 / Rs. 500 allowance to be added each month and the EPF payment from the employer to be increased upto 14%
16: 21 Special allowance of university academics, doctors and judiciary service employees to be increased
16:19 Minimum salary of a state sector employee to eb increased upto Rs. 25,000 inclusive of an increase of upto Rs. 2,200 in the cost of living allowance
16:18 EPF payment from the employer to be increased to 14%.
16:18 I suggest reasonable salary increase for private sector employees, too.
16:17 Special allowance of state sector employees to be added to their salary/ minimum salary of a government sector worker to be increased upto Rs. 15,000
16:09 Parents whose children are serving in the military and Police to be paid Rs. 1000 monthly with effect from January 2015
16:08 A special monthly allowance to be paid to widows of July strikers Electricity tariffs for hotels and shops to be reduced with effect from November, 2014
16:07 Pension and insuarance scheme for trishaw drivers
16:00 Rs. 3000 monthly allowance for differently-abled persons and Rs. 750 to be paid monthly as transportation allowances for differently-abled children
15:58 Monthly allowance given to elders to be increased upto Rs. 2000 with effect from January, 2015
15:51 Rs. 1200 million to be allocated to construct a new shopping complex comprising of 1500 shops in Pettah
15:46 Sri Lankan expats to be granted the facility to import a vehicle worth 60% of the total annual foreign revenue they bring into the country, inclusive of tax concessions
15:45 A special pensions scheme to be introduced to migrant workers
15:44 Samurdhi allowance to be increased - Rs. 3000 monthly for a family with four or more/ Rs. 2000 monthly for a three-member family/ Rs. 1000 for families with less than three members
15:37 Financial allocations made to develop research facilities in national universities
15:36 Aerospace Engineering Unit will be established at the Moratuwa University
15:35 Mahapola schoarship stipend to be increased upto Rs. 4000 by 2015
15:34 50,000 scholarships to be given to students from low income families unable to enter universities/ every student to be given Rs. 3000 monthly allowance
15:31 Teaching assistants to be paid a monthly allowance of Rs. 9500
15:30 A school based new teacher recruitment scheme to address the teacher shortage in schools.
15:29 Rs. 1500 million allcoaed to develop sanitation and other facilities of rural schools/ 2Grade five scholarship beneficiaries to be given Rs. 1500 instead of Rs. 500 they receive
15:28 Rs: 2500 monthly allowance for pre-school teachers
15:25 Every citizen to be provided a full medical checkup - Rs. 500 million allocated for a special programme to carry out early detection of various diseases
15:23 Rs.3000 monthly allowance to be provided to those afflicted with the Kidney disease
15:19 Price of yoghurt and milk powder by local manufacturers to be dropped by Rs. 3 and Rs. 100
15:18 Special programmes to be implemented to improve the quality of life for women and children from fishing communities
15:14 Pension scheme to be introduced for Apparel sector employees
15.11 150 million for SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka for 2015 and Bank of Ceylon to be recapitalised by Rs. 10 million by 2015
15:09 Several proposals and financial allocations made to develop and uplift tea, rubber and coconut crops
15:07 Cess tax on rubber imports to be increased by Rs. 10 per kilo
15:02 President while stating that crop damages by wild elephants will be compensated however said that no elephant is capable of harming the government, in response to an opposition comment
15:00 Motorcylces to be provided to postmen at concessionary rates.
14:59 Rs .2000 million additional funds to be allocated to resolve salary anomalies of railway employees
14:55 Sri Lanka to be a member of a Chinese bank that comprises of 22 other member states
14:51 Rs. 17 billion to be allocated during 2015 - 2017 for airport renovation and developments
14:50 500 small buses to be imported
14:49 Rs. 17 billion to be allocated during 2015 - 2017 for airport renovation and developments
14:48 Charges of the first 25 units of household water supply to be reduced by 10%
14:47 Income tax and Customs Departments systems to be computerised with effect from tomorrow and online services to be offered
14:46 A special Tax Scheme for the motor vehicle imports instead of the current system.
14:45 VAT to be reduced to 11% - payee tax limited to 16%
14:44 100 USD tax to be charged as entrace fee in Casinos
14:41 47 out of 54 state institutions have been turned into profit making establishments
14:36 Budget deficit to be reduced to 3.85% by 2016 and 3.2% by 2017
14:35 state sector expanded to 1.3 million
14:32 Per capita income to reach 7500 USD by 2020 - turning SL into a high middle income country
14:28 2020 export aim to be 20 billion USD
14:26 100,000 undergradutes to be accepted into national universities by 2020
14:25 Life expectancy to reach 80 years by 2020
14:22 Number of individuals migrating for employment dropped 22% this year - 7000 million USD income to be generated through migrant workers
14:22 Export revenue to exceed 11,500 million USD this year
14:21 New taxes imposing with effect from tonight will encourage competitive industries
14:18 Over 1.1 million tourist arrivals and rapid development in the tourism sector
14:15 Unemployment among youth aged between 18 - 30 dropped from 15% to 13.1%
14:13 A total of 750,000 houses given to low income families apart from the renovation of low income and disaster/conflict affected homes
14:03 hostel facilities to be provided to over 25,000 undergadutes / salaries and research allowances of academics increased by twofolds
14:00 several expressways to be completed by 2017 including Ruwanpura and Northern highways
13:59 President says SL to reach 4000 USD per capita income by 2015 - a year earlier than expected
13:57 Economy grown by 8% as a result of developments in investment and tourism
13:53 President asks TNA to unite with the government
13:53 Need to develop programs that promote education, health, and eradicate poverty - local government including district and provincial councils to be stregthened to achieve these goals
13:50 President: Several international summits held in Sri Lanka during the past year and the manner in which were were able to defeat the agendas of a handful of individuals in the local and international arenas attempting to promote extremist schemes against SL using the UNHRC, reflects the excellent foreign relations we have managed to maintain
13:48 Defense budget dropped from 5.5% to 3% and the funds were channeled rural infrastructure development
13:46 New livelihoods and new prospects for the youth and children after the end of the war
13:44 President says former leaders have placed special emphasis on agriculture development
13.35 The President started delivering the Budget 2015 speech
