COLOMBO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 300,000 new families are eligible for Sri Lanka's Aswesuma social welfare program, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies on Thursday.

Acting Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said in the statement that Aswesuma benefits are currently being received by over 1.7 million families.

The ministry said 5,209 families who were receiving benefits became ineligible following appeals and objections.

The Sri Lankan government said recently that it would increase the Aswesuma social welfare program to cover 2.4 million families because of the difficult economic situation in the country.

Sri Lanka has allocated 205 billion rupees (628.8 million dollars) in the budget for the payment of the Aswesuma social welfare program in 2024.