Sri Lanka’s delayed budget for the year 2010, which was presented in Parliament today, aims to cut the fiscal deficit and provide incentives for investments while targeting a double digit growth in the future. Deputy Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama who was sworn in as the Acting Minister of Finance hours before presenting the budget proposals said that the country seeks faster growth after the end of three decade old war mainly in the tourism sector.This year’s budget has been delayed by about seven months as presidential and parliamentary elections were called after the government defeated the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved the immediate disbursement of 407.8 million USD as its third tranche bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to about 1,019.4 million USD. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had approved a 20-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Sri Lanka in an amount equivalent to about 2.6 billion USD to support the country's economic reform program.