Vote on the second reading of the Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2021 is scheduled to take place at 5.00 pm this evening (21).
The second reading debate, which commenced on Wednesday (18), is continuing for the fourth consecutive day today.
The debate of the Committee Stage or the third reading of the budget proposal is set to commence on Monday (23). It will conclude on the 10th of December and accordingly, the vote on the third reading will be held at 5.00 pm on that day.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, presented the second reading of Budget 2021 in Parliament on Tuesday (17).
Under the new budget proposal, the estimated Government revenue for 2021 is Rs. 1,961 billion and the total Government expenditure is Rs. 3,525 billion. As such the difference between the revenue and the expenditure is Rs. 1,564 billion.
Government plans to maintain the budget gap at 9 percent of the GDP and the expected economic growth rate for 2021 is 5.5 percent, the Premier said during the budget speech.
