Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will present the second reading of the 2016 budget at the Parliament today.

This will be the first budget of the newly elected 'consensus government'.

President Maithripala Sirisena chaired a special discussion on the budget proposals at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and other officials took part in the discussion.

Speaking at a recent press conference, Special Assignments Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that the budget will reduce prices of ten essential goods.

Furthermore, the Minister said that the government will focus on development, investment, revenue and relief in this budget.