Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena says that he was able to reduce the expenses of the Prime Minister’s Office by 46% compared to last year.
By October 2023, these expenses have been estimated compared to 2022.
Accordingly, compared to the year 2021, the expenses of the Prime Minister’s Office have been reduced by 21% in 2022 and by 46% by October 2023.
In 2021, the expenditure was 1661.7 million rupees and in 2022 it was 1310.4 million rupees.
By October 2023, that value has been reduced to 705.7 million rupees.
The special feature is that although all the 1661.7 million rupees allocated from the budget for the Prime Minister’s Office were spent in 2021, only 1310.4 million rupees were spent out of the 1432.8 million rupees allocated in 2022, and only 705.7 million rupees were spent out of the 1012.0 million rupees allocated in 2023.
Before Mr. Dinesh Gunawardena assumed the post of Prime Minister, the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office was over 500 during 2021-2022, but the number has now been reduced to 285.
Accordingly, the salary expense was 340.3 million rupees in 2022 and by 22.11.2023, that expense has been reduced by 39% to 208.2 million rupees, and the cost of stationery has been reduced by 74% with the implementation of office work through electronic systems.
Due to the digitalization of the process of replying to the letters received by the Prime Minister’s Office, it has been possible to reduce the cost of postage and communication by 36%.
Although there were 178 vehicles in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2022, by the end of 2023, there is only a reserve of 125 vehicles sufficient for service needs.
Accordingly, the vehicle maintenance cost of 239.2 million rupees in 2022 has been reduced by 70% to 72.3 million rupees in 2023.
The cost of fuel has decreased by 26%, reducing the amount of 107 million rupees in 2022 to 79.3 million rupees in 2023.
The Prime Minister’s Office was also able to save 15 million rupees by handing over the annual maintenance of the electricity generators maintained under contract with the Ceylon Electricity Board to agencies, and accordingly the cost of maintenance of machines and machinery was reduced by 31%.
While maintaining an efficient financial management, it is also special to expand the responsibilities of the Prime Minister’s Office to cover more urgent cases to get rid of the country’s economic and social crisis.
In order to successfully carry out the additional tasks assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office by the Council of Ministers and maintain the services of the office without breakdown, the cost limitation was not an obstacle.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister’s Office has been entrusted with the weekly operation of the National Operations Center to solve problems related to 262 large-scale projects, as well as the formulation of a national water resource policy, formulation of a national digital policy, formulation of a sustainable energy policy, formulation of education strategies and policy frameworks.
