President talks digital at Budget 2023 reading

At the budget 2023 reading, president Ranil Wickremasinghe stated that the government will look to building a new economy and that it will have three focal points, which includes a digital economy. As such, here are the tech related proposals made in the latest budget reading.

Online payments for all government institutions

Even in 2022 there are many institutions that don’t offer online payment services, particularly when it comes to government. One proposal states that digital payments for government services will be made mandatory effective 1 March 2023. This also includes considerations for any legal changes and technical assistance to implement this policy. Thereby, a LKR 200 million is to be allocated for the proposal.

Setting up the Data Protection Authority (DPA)

Back when the Data Protection Act was passed into law in November 2021, a core part of the act was the establishment of a Data Protection Authority. This government controlled institution will serve as the statutory body overseeing matters of the act and data protection in general. The budget 2023 reading points out that steps will be taken to set up the DPA in 2023. It also states that the regulator will operate independently and will work with other bodies such as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

As per the Data Protection Act, No. 9 of 2022, some of the constitution of the DPA would include follow a similar approach to that of other state affiliated bodies such as TRCSL. This effectively means that the president will appoint one of the Board members as its Chairperson and will retain the power to remove the appointed member.

National Food Safety Program is going digital

The budget 2023 proposes that information on all agricultural and livestock products should be gathered online to maintain an updated database. The idea is to have an up to date system that would enable effective planning and implementing activities around food safety. For context, the UNICEF reported that as much as a quarter of the Sri Lankan population suffer from malnutrition.

Restructuring SOEs and committees

Following up on the previous proposals from the interim budget 2022, several more SOEs are expected to undergo restructuring. This includes Sri Lanka Telecom. Although it’s unclear what this restructuring will look like in actuality, at least for the national ISP.

The president also proposed to appoint a committee of experts and officials from the tech industry with the aim of exploring digital technology. The committee is to “report to the Cabinet of Ministers on the requirement for furtherance of the digital technology industry, including required policy environment laws, institutional support and facilities.”

Going electric

In a further push to promote local assembly of vehicles, the Social Security Levy is to be removed from companies that assemble motor vehicles locally and “add at least 25% local value and produce the required parts locally.” In order to ensure the local value addition part of it, the proposal also includes the development of a “communication technology system.” The idea is to coordinate with registered electric vehicle part manufacturers and local electric vehicle assemblers. This system is to be developed and maintained by the Ministry of Industries.

Additionally, effective 1 January 2023, the Social Security Levy and Port and Airport Development Levy are to be removed from taxed import of materials used to manufacture solar panels (classification code 8541.10 and 8504.40). According to the president this is to “promote the production of electricity using renewable energy and to encourage the local production of related solar panels.”

Back in August, the interim budget 2022, fossil-based vehicles for government use were halted and only electric vehicles were to be purchased, according to the proposal. This is planned to operate on a step-by-step basis with a scheduled timeline for January 2026.

ICTA is shutting down

Another interesting proposal was to shut down ICTA entirely. The president mentioned that the agency’s work is almost complete and so the hope is to replace it with a new organization. However, questions remain on what the implications will be for ongoing projects and its current workforce. How all the specifics will work out, time will tell.

You can find the full Budget 2023 reading here.