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Strengthening social protection remains a key priority for the Government, with the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Protection receiving increased funding in the 2026-2027 National Budget.

The Ministry has been allocated $211 million to provide welfare assistance to more than 130,000 vulnerable people.

Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection Sashi Kiran says they are pleased with the allocation, highlighting that the Government has provided the funding requested by the Ministry.

The Ministry will continue to maintain the 15 percent increase across all social welfare allowances to ensure vulnerable households continue receiving the support they need.

“No, due to the crisis, we are providing an additional 50 percent, and that applies until this month, July, and we are looking at other protection mechanisms.”

Kiran adds that they will continue to strengthen their programmes with the resources provided.

“You will see that social protection mechanisms are spread across different ministries, including housing and other sectors, so let’s look at it more deeply. But generally, we are happy with the budget.”

While delivering the national budget, Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel says that in the current budget, the Government has provided a 15 percent increase across all social welfare allowances.

This includes a 25 percent increase for recipients aged over 70 years.

He says this was followed by a further five percent increase in the 2025-2026 Budget.

Immanuel adds that despite ongoing fiscal pressures, the Government will maintain all of these increases in the new budget.

He also says that, in response to the fuel crisis, the Government introduced a temporary 50 percent increase in welfare assistance from May to July this year to help vulnerable households cope with rising fuel costs.

The temporary assistance is expected to end next month.