By Sri Lanka’s budget experts raised concerns over higher defense allocation in the 2023 budget and said the move gives the wrong signal on rationalizing public spending.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposed budget allocation for 2023 is 539 billion rupees for both defense and public security.
The allocation for health is 322 billion rupees and the allocation for education is 232 billion.
Many point out that 13 years after ending the civil war allocating disproportionately large amounts for defense is not acceptable.
There are some others who argue that a large number of the security personnel were recruited to fight the war and a big defense budget will continue for some time
