<span style="color: #222222;">Sri Lankan minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera presented the budget proposal for 2019 today under the theme "Enterprise Sri Lanka – Empowering the People, Nurturing the Poor". </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The minister said over 30,000 entrepreneurs have benefitted from Enterprise Sri Lanka programme while funds amounting to around 60 billion rupees have already been released for this loan scheme. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said the scheme will be broadened and spread further while programmes will be implemented across the island to educate the masses. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Keeping in view the elections later this year, the budget announced few welfare programmes including concessionary home loan for newly married, enhanced allowances for government servants and free education in foreign universities for high school toppers. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The minister announced a sequence of steps to increase the number of women in the country's work force and said labour laws will be amended to achieve this. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The budget projected plans to increase public revenue to 17 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a deficit of 4.4 percent. </span><br />'' <br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The excise duty on liquor and import duty on vehicles were proposed to be increased to achieve revenue targets. The budget was to be presented last November but was delayed due to political crisis in the country.</span><br />