Sri Lanka, Sept. 18 -- The Appropriation Bill of 2026 has been gazetted, proposing a total government expenditure of 4.54 trillion rupees.

This marks an approximately 1.5% reduction in spending compared to last year's budget of Rs.4.61 trillion.

The largest allocation is for the Ministry of Finance, which has been assigned Rs.634 billion, a slight decrease from the previous year.

Meanwhile, defence spending has seen a marginal increase to Rs.455 billion, up from Rs.442 billion in 2025.

Other sectors have also been allocated increased funds. The education budget has risen to Rs.301 billion, while the budget for Health and Mass Media has seen a significant jump to Rs.555 billion.

There is an increase of about Rs.90 billion for Public A...