The funds allocated for Provincial Councils by the Budget 2017 have not been curtailed in any form, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake reiterates.

 
He points out that there is no any truth whatsoever in the charges made by certain Provincial Council Chief Ministers that Budget 2017 has curtailed the amount of money allocated for Provincial Councils comparing to previous budgets.

He said that the pattern of Budget allocation to Provincial Councils has been changed this time by providing some funds directly to line ministries.

Accordingly, Provincial Councils will be unable to use government funds for wasteful activities such as foreign tours and such valuable money will be used to provide necessary public amenities in the province.

At the same time, regular funds will be provided to Provincial Councils as in the past but other funds have already been allocated to line ministries according to the requirements of such ministries.

In addition, vehicle registration fees, stamp fees, court penalties, local government taxes and different types of revenues other than taxes collected by local government institutions will not be deposited to consolidated fund. They will be deposited to Provincial Council Fund instead.