Lanka concerned over Sethu project impact

November 26th, 2013

Sri Lanka has shared with the Indian government  a comprehensive report on the environmental impact of the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project prepared by Sri Lankan experts and officials, the Hindu reported.

The paper quoted  sources in the Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs. The query came up in response  to a question from media persons on the hearing in the Supreme Court of India on the Sethusamudram project, scheduled for November 26, a spokesperson of the Ministry said on Monday that apart from the adverse environmental impact of the project, Sri Lanka was concerned about the damage it would cause to Ram Sethu, which is sacred to many in South Asia.

Debt to GDP to reduce to 65 pct by 2016

*Budget Deficit 3.8 pct in 2016
*Current Revenue deficit to Shift to surplus, revenue increase to 16.5 pct of GDP

November 25, 2013, 6:32 pm 

The debt to GDP is anticipated to reduce to 65 percent by 2016 from 79.1 percent in 2012 and 78 percent this year. The budget deficit is also expected to contract in line with the government debt to GDP, to 3.8 percent by 2016 from 5.8 percent in 2013, while the revenue deficit of 1 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2013 is expected to become a surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP by 2016, the Treasury said.

The government revenue which dropped to 13.6 percent of GDP in 2013 from 13.9 percent in 2012 is expected to increase in the following years to 16.5 percent by 2016, while government expenditure which also dropped to 19.7 percent in 2013 from 20.5 percent would gather momentum, the Treasury said.

Income Tax revenue of the government is expected to increase from the current 12.1 percent to 14.1 percent during the period, while Value Added tax would contribute 3.2 percent, followed by Excise tax 3.1 percent, Tax on external trade 3.2 percent, other taxes 1.9 percent. The non tax revenue is expected to reach 2.3 percent of GDP from 1.5 percent this year.

The current expenditure of the government is expected to be at 14.2 percent of GDP, while the public investment is expected to settle at 6.3 percent of GDP by 2016 from 5.8 this year. -MA