Proposals for the Annual Budget 2013

| by Chandra Jayaratne

( July 26, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) As Professional Institutes, Associations and Chambers of Commerce customarily begin the process of developing and finalizing their submissions to the Government for the Annual Budget 2013 around this time of the year, I request you to kindly consider, evaluate and include in all such submissions made by you, one submission of critical importance to the risks mitigated assurance of growth and prosperity of Sri Lanka, Business Sector, Professionals and Civil Society taken as a whole, especially in the context of the severe financial stress currently experienced in several developed economies including, the USA and many smaller European Union member states.

This critical submission considered essential for effective Transparency, Good Governance and Efficient Macro Economic Management relates to the Annual Budget 2013 associated Fiscal Responsibilities Act linked Reports, making a comprehensive disclosure of the Fiscal Gap estimated at Mid Year 2012, and estimated Fiscal gap at End 2012 and End 2013. The Fiscal Gap required to be disclosed in the Fiscal Responsibilities Act linked reports as herein recommended being the value today (the present value) of the difference between projected spending (including servicing official debt) and projected revenue in all future years.

It is essential that the Fiscal Gap disclosures relate separately to the Central Government as well the independent government entities with substantial impact on the consolidated fiscal position of the nation. These key institutions with significant local and foreign debt include, the Electricity Board, Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Urban Development Authority, Air Lanka /Mihin Lanka Consolidated and Air Ports and Aviation Services Authority.

I am sure you will appreciate the significance and value of such disclosure in assuring Fiscal Responsibilities of the Central Government and Key Independent Institutions, most of whose debts will in any event be subject to guarantees revolving on the Central Government.

In order that you fully appreciate the importance of this submission and the consequential stress I place on this submission as an essential component of the Annual Budget Submissions to the Government made by your Respective Association and Chambers, I enclose a Bloomberg Opinion titled “U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It: -By Laurence Kotlikoff - Aug 11, 2010.

I sincerely trust that you and your support leadership teams will consider and include the above submission and have thus taken the liberty of copying this mail to those to whom your submissions will eventually be addressed to.