The Appropriation Bill for 2027 was presented in Parliament yesterday (7) by Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando.

The Committee on Parliamentary Business, at a meeting chaired by Speaker Dr Jagath Wickramaratne recently decided that the Appropriation Bill for 2027 would be presented for its first reading yesterday (7).

The second reading of the Appropriation Bill or the Budget Speech, together with the presentation of the 2027 Budget proposals, is scheduled for 12 November. The Budget Speech will be delivered by the President in his capacity as Minister of Finance.

The second reading debate will be held for seven days from 13 to 20 November, with the vote on the second reading scheduled for 6 p.m. on 20 November.

Following the second reading, the bill will move to the Committee Stage, where individual expenditure heads will be considered. The Committee Stage debate is scheduled to run for 19 days from 21 November to 14 December.

The final vote on the third reading of the Budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. on 14 December, concluding the parliamentary Budget process.

Parliament will meet at 9.30 a.m. on each scheduled Budget debate day, including Saturdays, while Sundays and public holidays will be excluded.

During the Second Reading debate, 60% of the debate time will be allocated to the Government and 40% to the Opposition. For the Committee Stage, the allocation will be reversed, with 40% for the Government and 60% for the Opposition.

The Parliamentary authorities have also made arrangements for divisions on individual expenditure heads. Where a division is called for an expenditure head relating to a particular ministry, the vote will be held at 6 p.m. at the conclusion of parliamentary proceedings on that day, the Communication Department of Parliament noted.