AKD to Present Sri Lanka’s 81st Budget Tomorrow (12)

COLOMBO (News 1st); The 2027 Budget is scheduled to be presented in Parliament tomorrow afternoon.

The Budget is the more popular name for what Parliamentarians refer to as the Appropriation Bill. In the annual calendar of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Annual Budget Presentation and ensuing debate takes precedence over most, if not all, legislation, motions and resolutions which Parliament debates in any given year.

The Budget is not an average Finance Bill, although it follows the same procedures of any Bill. It is a tradition that the Minister of Finance will use this opportunity to announce to the country, and in fact to the world, the Government's economic policy, its performance in the past years, and new directions it is proposing to take.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as Finance Minister, will present Sri Lanka’s 81st Budget.

The budget proposals came under the President’s review today (11).

The government’s estimated expenditure for 2027 stands at Rs. 4,992.77 billion.

The Appropriation Bill containing government expenditure proposals for the 2027 financial year was tabled in Parliament on October 7 by Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando.

The largest allocation under the Appropriation Bill has been made to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The allocation amounts to Rs. 856.86 billion.

A sum of Rs. 458 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Defence, while Rs. 590.5 billion has been earmarked for the Ministry of Health and Mass Media.

The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education has been allocated Rs. 328 billion.

A total of Rs. 651 billion has been set aside for the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government.

The allocation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism stands at Rs. 24.7 billion.

Meanwhile, Rs. 500 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, while the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs has been allocated Rs. 230.5 billion.

The Ministry of Justice and National Integration has been allocated Rs. 66 billion.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation has been allocated Rs. 218 billion.

Meanwhile, under the Special Expenditure Unit, recurrent expenditure of Rs. 2.7 billion and capital expenditure of Rs. 366 million have been allocated for the President’s operational programme.

A further Rs. 8.1 billion has been earmarked for development programmes.

The operational programmes of the Prime Minister’s Office have been allocated Rs. 1.02 billion.

Parliament is scheduled to meet tomorrow (12) at 1.30 p.m., when the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill for the year 2027 (Budget Speech) will be presented in Parliament in the afternoon by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance.

Thereafter, the debate on the Appropriation Bill (Budget Debate) is scheduled to be held over a period of 26 days, from November 13 to December 14.

The Appropriation Bill for 2027, which was presented to Parliament for its First Reading on October 7, 2026, will be taken up for the Second Reading Debate from November 13 to November 20, over a period of seven days.

The vote on the Second Reading of the Budget will subsequently be held at 6.00 p.m. on November 20.

The Committee Stage Debate on the Appropriation Bill for 2027 is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 14, over a period of 19 days, including four Saturdays.

Thereafter, the vote on the Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill will be held at 6.00 p.m. on December 14.

During the Budget period, the time from 9.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. each day will be allocated for Parliamentary Business listed under Standing Orders 22(1) to 22(6).

From 10.00 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., time will be allocated for five Questions for Oral Answers, while the period from 10.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. will be reserved for one Question under Standing Order 27(2).

The Budget Debate will be conducted from 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. On all days except November 20 and December 14, when voting will take place, the period from 6.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. will also be allocated for the debate on the Motions at the Adjournment Time.