PM asks Parliamentary Budget Office to help minimise waste in public sector

By Saman Indrajith

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday said that a Parliamentary Budget Office would help minimise waste in public offices and departments.

During the second reading debate on Parliamentary Budget Office Bill the Prime Minister said that the inaccuracies in figures and statistics led to the waste of public funds. “We have to admit that waste is rampant in government departments. I, as the Prime Minister, humbly admit this reality. We must stop this. Eliminating waste in the public sector must be one of our priorities. I do not think that any single MP here could get up and give an assurance that such and such institutes are free from waste. This is a serious problem that we all face. The burden created by forged figures and wrong statistics too would finally be borne by the Treasury. I hope that this Parliamentary Budget Office will introduce a mechanism to prevent waste in the public sector,” the Prime Minister said.