A report by Verité Research reveals a troubling lack of transparency in Sri Lanka’s budget implementation process. Here’s a breakdown of the key findings:
- Limited Information: For 2023, the government couldn’t provide information on progress for proposals accounting for a massive 89% (Rs. 43.8 billion) of allocated funds. This is a recurring issue, with 2022 being even worse at 93% unknown progress.
- Low Disclosure Rates: Even by the number of proposals, information was available for just 72% (18 out of 25) in 2023. This is an improvement from 2022’s record low of 29%. However, these 18 proposals represent only 11% of the total budget allocation.
- Social Welfare Opacity: Transparency is particularly lacking for budgeted social welfare programs, which received the highest allocations in both 2022 and 2023. No progress information was disclosed for these proposals.
- Low Budget Transparency Score: Sri Lanka’s score in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) reflects this lack of transparency. The 2023 score of 37 out of 100 is significantly lower than the global average of 45.
- Implementation Issues: Only 16% (4 out of 25) of proposals were fully implemented in 2023. For example, a Rs. 500 million proposal for child nutrition improvement wasn’t implemented due to bureaucratic hurdles between ministries.
Recommendations:
Verité Research suggests improvements like:
- Stronger oversight by the Ministry of Finance and legislative committees.
- Publishing supporting documents for proposals to ensure feasibility.
- Proactive disclosure of information on ministry websites as mandated by the Right to Information Act (RTI).