Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera's budget proposal to establish a 'Palmyra Fund' geared towards providing adequate financing for the accelerated development of Eastern and Northern Provinces was launched under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Temple Trees yesterday (27).
The fund was established after considering the requests made by parliamentarians representing the Norther and Eastern provinces, premier Wickremesinghe said.
The fund starts with a seed capital of LKR 2.5 billion while additional funds of LKR 2.5 billion is to be allocated for the fund, the Prime Minister.
In addition to this seed capital, LKR 7 billion of funds will be spent on the North and the East under ‘Gam Peraliya’ rapid rural development programme. According to the Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, approximately LKR 50 billion will be spent on the North and East this year alone, he said.
Wickremesinghe further said that funds will also be made available under the Enterprise Sri Lanka credit schemes for small-scale businesses to operate in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
“The govt will be giving employment to 22,000 graduates, so there will be a significant portion of them who come from Jaffna. There are other schemes under which employment opportunities will be founded. Funds that are being pumped into the northern and eastern economies will also create employment opportunities there,” the prime minister added.
Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, Leader of Tamil National Alliance R. Sampanthan, Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Dr. Harsha de Silva, State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran, Parliamentarians Selvam Adaikkalanathan and S. Shritharan also graced the event.
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