Finance ministry bans additional grants

The finance ministry on Thursday placed a ban on the issuance of supplementary grants and directed the ministries and divisions not to exceed the budget approved by parliament for current and development expenditure.

In a notification, the office made it clear to all the government departments that apart from the fixed budget, no other amount in the shape of supplementary grant would be released. It said that a supplementary grant would only be provided in case of a severe natural calamity.

The ministry noted that additional funds had been allocated for the ad hoc relief allowance and specified that released budget funds could not be used for any other purpose. If allocated funds were used for a different purpose, prior permission must be gotten from the ministry.