The 2026 Budget Committee Stage Debate is scheduled for its second day today (17), focusing on the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration.

The Committee Stage Debate will continue until 5 December, when the vote on the Third Reading of the Budget is scheduled to be held at 6:00 PM. 

The Budget was presented to Parliament by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 7 November.

The Second Reading of the Budget was passed on 7 November with a majority of 118 votes. 

This vote was notable as several opposition MPs, including Mano Ganesan and three other members of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, along with Jeevan Thondaman of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, voted in favour of the Budget, particularly to support the proposal for increasing plantation workers’ wages.