Interim Budget - Direct aid for 3.5 m families | Sunday Observer

Interim Budget - Direct aid for 3.5 m families

4 September, 2022

The Government has commenced providing direct aid to 3.5 million families under the recent Interim Budget presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as Finance Minister, Samurdhi officials said.

Relief will be provided to Samurdhi recipients, including families without food security, the elderly without shelter, pregnant women, kidney patients and differently-adled citizens.

The beneficiaries include 1,749,660 families receiving Samurdhi allowances and 731,975 families on the Samurdhi waiting list. Steps will be taken to increase the Samurdhi allowance from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 7,500.

The families on the waiting list will get a Rs.5,000 interim allowance.

An allowance between Rs.7,500 - Rs.10,000 will be given to food-insecure families.

Samurdhi Development Department Director General Bandula Thilakasiri said that a census on the food-insecure families that do not fall under the Samurdhi category is also being conducted. He said that 416,667 homeless adults, 39,169 kidney patients, and 72,006 differently-abled persons and pregnant women will receive increased allowances under the provisions of the Interim Budget.

The Government spends Rs. 5,300 million monthly on Samurdhi allowances. As part of the relief provisions, the Government has set apart from its capital expenditure and low priority expenditure Rs.31,000 million from the original Budget of 2022 presented by former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

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