Parliament advances 2024 Budget and approves expenditure heads

The second day of parliamentary deliberations on the 2024 Appropriation Bill (Budget) commenced today (Nov. 23), focusing on the Third Reading and Committee Stage.

The session began with a dedicated time slot for Questions for Oral Answers from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Following this, the Committee Stage debate on the 2024 Budget will continue until 6 p.m.

At 6 p.m., the parliament will shift its attention to the approval of Regulations under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act. Subsequently, the Opposition's Motion at the Adjournment Time will be debated until 6:30 p.m.

Yesterday's proceedings included a crucial vote on the allocation of expenditure heads for former presidents. The call for a division came from Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the National People’s Power. A total of 62 Members of Parliament voted in favor of the proposal, with only 3 voting against it. Notably, NPP MPs Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Herath, and Harini Amarasuriya were the sole dissenting voices during the division.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana subsequently announced to the House that Heading No. 01 had been passed with amendments during the Committee Stage.