Appropriation Bill to be tabled in Parliament

The Appropriation Bill approved by the Cabinet of Ministers is to be tabled in Parliament today. According to the government news portal the bill records an allocation of Rs.260,711,375,000 as recurrent expenditure for the Ministry of Defence and a capital expenditure of Rs. 30 billion.

The Finance Ministry estimates a total expenditure of Rs. 3,982 billion for 2018. The amount includes Rs.1, 308 billion for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 668 billion for capital expenditure. The Government estimates a revenue of Rs. 2,175 billion from foreign grants while another Rs.1, 813 billion IS to be financed through loans obtained from both foreign and domestic sources, the report claimed.

The Appropriation Bill will be presented for the first reading today by the State Minister for Finance Eran Wickramaratne. The Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera will present the 2018 Budget during the second reading of the Appropriation Bill on November 9. The second reading of the 2018 Budget will be held on November 10, 11, 13th, 14 and 15 while the Committee stage debate will be from November 16 with the vote on the third reading of budget fixed for December 9.