Sept 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka government sources speculate that newly appointed national list MP Basil Rajapaksa will swear in as the Minister of Nation Building immediately after the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa returns from the UN General Assembly.

The President is to return to the country on September 28.

The Ministry of Nation Building which currently comes under the purview of the President, handles the biggest percentage of the national budget administered by four more non-cabinet Ministers. They are Ministers Jagath Pushpakumara, Rohitha Abegunawardhana, S.M. Chandrasena and Gunaratna Weerakoon.

Former Senior Presidential adviser Basil Rajapaksa, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was assumed as the de facto Minister of the Nation Building portfolio earlier as well.