The parliamentary process for the 2027 Appropriation Bill is set to begin on October 7, with the President scheduled to present the 2027 Budget proposals on November 12, the Communication Department of Parliament announced.

The Committee on Parliamentary Business decided that the Appropriation Bill for 2027 will be presented to Parliament for its first reading on October 7. The decision was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne.

The second reading of the Appropriation Bill, which will include the presentation of the Budget proposals, will take place on Thursday, November 12. The Budget Speech will be delivered by the President in his capacity as the Minister in charge of Finance.

Seven-day Second Reading debate

Following the Budget Speech, the second reading debate will be held for seven days, from November 13 to November 20.

The vote on the second reading has been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on November 20.

The parliamentary schedule will then move to the Committee Stage, during which individual expenditure heads will be considered.

Committee Stage to run for 19 days

The Committee Stage debate will be conducted for 19 days from November 21 to December 14.

The final vote on the third reading of the Budget is scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. on December 14, marking the conclusion of the parliamentary Budget process.

Parliament will meet at 9:30 a.m. on each scheduled Budget debate day. The sittings will include Saturdays, while Sundays and public holidays will be excluded.

Daily parliamentary timetable

Under the approved timetable, parliamentary business listed under Standing Order 22(1) to (6) will be taken up from 9.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.

This will be followed by five Questions for Oral Answers from 10.00 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. A question under Standing Order 27(2) will then be taken up from 10.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

The main Budget debate will be conducted from 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

On days when no vote is scheduled, Motions at the Adjournment Time will be debated from 6.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. The time allocated for this debate will be divided equally between the Government and the Opposition.

Debate time allocation

The Committee on Parliamentary Business has also approved specific allocations of debate time between the Government and Opposition.

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 debate, the allocation will be reversed, with 40% for the Government and 60% for the Opposition.

The parliamentary authorities have also made arrangements for votes on individual expenditure heads. If a division is called for on an expenditure head relating to a particular ministry, the relevant vote will be held at 6.00 p.m. at the conclusion of parliamentary proceedings on that day.

The schedule was announced by Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera, following the decision of the Committee on Parliamentary Business.