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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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No hand in preparing budget - WB, ADB confirm by Rohan Mathes The Government had prepared the budget on its own, the Country Director Asian Development Bank Alessandro Pio claimed. Speaking to the Sunday Observer and making his comments on the budget proposals, Alessandro Pio said that he has mixed reactions on the same as it includes positive factors but raises certain concerns as well. "The proposals are in line with the government policies of alleviating poverty and the development of the rural economy, and the government had prepared it on their own sans influence from the international donor agencies", he said. Pio pointed out that while refraining from placing an excessive burden on the private sector, it has introduced new measures to expand the tax base by including a variety of sources of revenue. However he said that his main concerns are in the administration and implementation in the changes in VAT and many other measures to collect small amounts of revenue, which would be complicated. "Projections of revenue, also needs to be checked to see whether they are realistic", he added. The World Bank Country Director Peter Harold when contacted for his comments on the budget proposals, told the Sunday Observer that he could not comment on them without studying them very carefully for a significant period. When asked whether they had a hand in the preparation of the budget, the World Bank Country Director said, "We never had any involvement in the budget. But we have always had full and frank discussions on many issues of the budget throughout". The Economic and Trade Administration Manager of the European Union (EU), the Sri Lankan born Roshan Lyman, when asked for his comments on the budget, declined to comment, stating that he needs more time to study it. |
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