Exposing the lapse in budget expenditures and lack of transparency, Verité Research revealed in its latest report that the government was unable to provide information on the progress of 89% of the highest-value expenditure proposals in the 2023 budget speech.
According to Verité Research’s report, Rs 49.3 billion was allocated for 25 proposals under the highest-value expenditure proposals during the 2023 budget speech. However, the government provided information regarding the progress of proposals valued at only Rs 5.5 billion, which is 11% of the total.
The report also indicated that in the 2022 budget speech, progress information was available for proposals representing 93% of allocated funds. Verité Research noted that the last two years have been among the worst since 2017 in terms of information available on the highest-value budget proposals.
In terms of the number of proposals, rather than their value, the report stated that information to assess progress was available for only 18 out of the 25 proposals, representing 72% of the high-value proposals.
However, the report noted a notable improvement from 2022. Verité Research revealed that 2022 saw an all-time low in information disclosure, with only 29% of the proposals (7 out of 24) being evaluated for progress based on the information provided. The 18 proposals with progress information available for 2023 amounted to just LKR 5.4 billion – 11% of the total allocation, according to the report.
Visibility was particularly low around budgeted social welfare payments, which received the highest allocations in the last two years: LKR 26.8 billion in 2022 and LKR 43 billion in 2023. Verité Research reported that the government failed to disclose information on the progress of these proposals in both years.
The report pointed out that the deficiency in information is also evident from Sri Lanka’s score in the Open Budget Survey (OBS). The budget transparency score, based on availability, substance, and timeliness, was 37 out of 100 in 2023, well below the global average of 45. The OBS is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of public access to central government budget information. It also revealed that only 16% (4 out of 25) of the proposals were fully implemented in 2023.
To address the issues related to the lack of transparency, the report recommended improving the oversight of budget implementation by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and legislative committees, such as the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and Committee on Public Finance (COPF). It also suggested publishing supporting documents with assumptions and analysis behind the proposals to ensure they are well-formulated and achievable. Additionally, Verité Research recommended complying with the proactive disclosure requirements of the RTI Act and disclosing timely information on ministry websites.
