Rs. 16 billion loan to pay Rs. 5000 allowance for May

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The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to obtain a short loan to facilitate the payment of Rs. 5,000 allowance for the month of May.

“The government expects to provide the Rs. 5,000 allowance for 5,144,046 people in the month of May, and accordingly Rs. 25.72 billion is required for this purpose,” noted the Government Information Department on Thursday (May 21).

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has drawn the attention of the Cabinet of Ministers lack of funds to meet the Rs. 5000 payment for the month of May.

As a result, the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to obtain a loan on behalf of the Department of Samurdhi Development to secure additional funds worth of Rs. 16 billion.

According to the Government Information Department, the government has spent around Rs. 25 billion to Rs. 30 billion in the month of April for the provision of the Rs. 5,000 allowance granted to low-income families financially affected in the wake of COVID-19.

Furthermore, the Cabinet of Ministers also decided to discontinue the provision of the Rs. 5,000 allowance for June based on the position taken by the National Elections Commission.

Press briefing on Cabinet decisions was held on Thursday (May 21) at the Government Information Department, with the participation of Joint Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, and Minister Ramesh Pathirana.