Sri Lanka to provide festival allowance for poor

The Sri Lankan government has approved a proposal to pay an allowance of 5,000 LKR ($17) to low-income families for two months in view of the festive season.

Minister of Energy Gamini Lokuge told the media that the government has identified around 3.1 million low-income families to receive the allowance, which is akin to a bonus for the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year, reports Xinhua news agency.

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The Minister added that the government has the necessary funds to provide the allowance.

The government will spend 30.1 billion LKR on the allowance.