The Second Reading of the Budget was passed in Parliament last evening with a majority of 100 votes.

While 157 Parliamentarians votes for the bill, 57 voted against.

The United National Party (UNP), the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against the motion. Significantly, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) did not vote for the bill.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance presented budget proposals last week (24) and the second reading of the debate commenced the following day.

The committee stage debate which is also known as the Third Reading of the budget will commence at 9.30 am on Monday and will continue till Nov 24. The final vote on budget 2015 will take place at 5.00 pm on Nov 24.