Sri Lanka's parliament passes second reading of budget for 2019

COLOMBO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Parliament on Tuesday passed the second reading of the government's budget for 2019 with 119 legislators in the 225-member Parliament voting in favor of the budget proposals and 76 against.

The ruling United National Party and the independent Tamil National Alliance voted in favor of the budget while some members from the opposition United People's Freedom Alliance together with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna voted against.

The remaining legislators abstained from voting.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera presented the budget for 2019 to the Parliament on March 5.

The budget proposal aims to provide relief to the poor and attract more invest on the island's social infrastructure.

The final vote on the budget proposals will be held on April 5.