On our uncertainty…”
What kind of government reduces expenditure on health in the midst of a global pandemic?
In the first week of October, the Lankan Cabinet approved the Appropriations Bill for 2021. Of a total estimated expenditure of Rs. 2.68 trillion only a paltry Rs. 159 billion was set aside for health. Defence got Rs. 355 billion. Highways got Rs. 335 billion. Health didn’t get even half of what the Highways got.
In 2019, with no global pandemic, the Sirisena-Rajapaksa administration set aside Rs. 188 billion for health. In 2020, amidst a global pandemic with no seeming end, the Gotabaya-Mahinda regime reduced it by Rs. 29 billion.