The Treasury has ensured the proper disbursement of funds for the retirement gratuities of officers who retired from December 2022, up to December 19, 2023, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said yesterday.
This includes the settlement of arrears for retirement gratuities that should have been paid over a span exceeding 18 months leading up to the given date.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Finance also said that in accordance with the 2023 Budget provisions approved by Parliament, the Treasury has disbursed the funds for all invoices certified by all Government agencies until December 15, 2023.
This marks a unique occurrence, as 2023 stands out as the only year in the past 25 years where all approved payments have been settled within the financial year itself.
It is also remarkable that this feat has been achieved at a time when Sri Lanka is still recovering from the economic crisis of 2022 when its foreign exchange reserves fell to a critical low. Sri Lanka went in for what the World Bank described as “foundational reforms” to restore macroeconomic stability and mitigate the impacts on the poor and vulnerable aided by private sector-led recovery. Sri Lanka has recorded substantial progress since then.
Earlier, on Friday, Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said Sri Lanka has no option other than following the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stipulations to achieve complete economic recovery in the years ahead. It was important to maintain the IMF program to receive international support to resolve the crisis, Dr. Weerasinghe said regarding the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) supporting the island’s economy which it had received since inking the IMF deal. Economists said that this was the only method to bring long-term relief although it will cause short-term hardships.
