A supplementary estimate of Rs. 47 billion for public relief is to be presented to Parliament on Wednesday, with the debate scheduled for the same day, NewsFirst reported.
The bulk of the money — Rs. 41 billion — covers the government’s diesel subsidy. The allocation funds the decision to pay a subsidy of Rs. 70 per litre of diesel per month from October to December.
A further Rs. 6 billion is allocated through the same estimate for the programme providing financial assistance to low-income families.
How this fits the earlier announcement
The Rs. 41 billion figure is not new spending announced on Wednesday. It is the same three-month diesel subsidy approved in late September and set at Rs. 70 a litre after fuel distributors pressed for relief on import costs. What goes to Parliament now is the formal appropriation for it, bundled with the Rs. 6 billion family-assistance line into a single Rs. 47 billion estimate.
The subsidy is paid to fuel companies rather than directly to motorists, and is intended to hold pump prices below full cost recovery. Distributors have previously said their losses on diesel run well above Rs. 70 a litre, so the payment offsets part — not all — of the gap.
Not reported
NewsFirst does not break the Rs. 6 billion family-assistance figure down by scheme or beneficiary count, state how the Rs. 47 billion will be financed, or say whether the estimate affects the deficit target agreed under the IMF programme. No vote result was available at the time of filing, as the debate had not yet been held.
