Monday, 13 October 2014 00:17
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The Government has decided to allocate four more working days to debate the 2015 Budget in parliament.
The decision to extend the debate period was taken at the party leaders meeting held Friday (Oct 10).
Accordingly, the third reading vote which had earlier been scheduled for November 18 was re-scheduled to 5.00 p.m. on November 24.
Last week UNP MP Eran Wickremaratne criticized the Government for trying to rush through the Budget 2015 with a shortened period for the debate.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning will deliver the budget for the year 2015 to parliament on October 24.
The debate on the Second Reading stage will commence on October 25 and continue till November 01. The vote on Second Reading stage would be taken at 5.00 p.m. on November 01.
The committee stage debate on budget 2015 is scheduled to commence on November 03 and will continue daily except for Sundays till November 24. The final vote of the budget 2015 is scheduled to be taken at 5.00 p.m. on November 24.
The Cabinet of ministers approved the Appropriation Bill for the Financial Year 2015 submitted by President last month.
The government has estimated 1.812 trillion rupees (approximately US$ 14 billion) as expenditure for its services for the financial year of 2015.
The Appropriation Bill 2015 targets a budget deficit of 4.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the next year while expecting a growth rate of 8.2%.
