Sri Lanka

Which countries lead in budget accountability? Which ones need improvement? Explore our data and recommendations for each of the 120 countries assessed.
Open Budget Survey Results

Public Participation

19

Budget Oversight

57

Transparency

30

Open Budget Survey 2021

Government budget decisions – what taxes to levy, what services to provide, and how much debt to take on – have important consequences for all people in society. When governments provide information and meaningful channels for the public to engage in these decisions, we can better ensure public money is spent on public interests.

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The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information; formal opportunities for the public to participate in the national budget process; and the role of budget oversight institutions, such as legislatures and national audit offices, in the budget process.

The survey helps local civil society assess and confer with their government on the reporting and use of public funds. This 8th edition of the OBS covers 120 countries.

Summary
Country Specific Assessments
Country summary EN
pdf, 313.26 KB
Questionnaire EN
pdf, 930.83 KB
30 /100

This part of the OBS measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources. It assesses the online availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents using 109 equally weighted indicators and scores each country on a scale of 0 to 100. A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.

Transparency in Sri Lanka compared to others

Global Average
45
Pakistan
46
Afghanistan
43
Nepal
39
India
37
Sri Lanka
30
Bangladesh
30
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Sri Lanka’s ranking: 93 of 120 countries

0
100

How has the transparency score for Sri Lanka changed over time?

67
2010
46
2012
39
2015
44
2017
47
2019
30
2021
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Public availability of budget documents in Sri Lanka

Key
Available to the Public
Published Late, or Not Published Online, or Produced for Internal Use Only
Not Produced
Scroll
Document 2010 2012 2015 2017 2019 2021
Pre-Budget Statement
Executive’s Budget Proposal
Enacted Budget
Citizens Budget
In-Year Reports
Mid-Year Review
Year-End Report
Audit Report

How comprehensive is the content of the key budget documents that Sri Lanka makes available to the public?

Key
61-100 / 100
41-60 / 100
1-40 / 100
Scroll
Key budget document Document purpose and contents Fiscal year assessed Document content score
Pre-Budget Statement Discloses the broad parameters of fiscal policies in advance of the Executive's Budget Proposal; outlines the government's economic forecast, anticipated revenue, expenditures, and debt. 2021 Internal Use
Executive’s Budget Proposal Submitted by the executive to the legislature for approval; details the sources of revenue, the allocations to ministries, proposed policy changes, and other information important for understanding the country's fiscal situation. 2021 31
Enacted Budget The budget that has been approved by the legislature. 2021 89
Citizens Budget A simpler and less technical version of the government's Executive’s Budget Proposal or the Enacted Budget, designed to convey key information to the public. 2021 Not Produced
In-Year Reports Include information on actual revenues collected, actual expenditures made, and debt incurred at different intervals; issued quarterly or monthly. 2020 Not Produced
Mid-Year Review A comprehensive update on the implementation of the budget as of the middle of the fiscal year; includes a review of economic assumptions and an updated forecast of budget outcomes. 2020 Not Produced
Year-End Report Describes the situation of the government's accounts at the end of the fiscal year and, ideally, an evaluation of the progress made toward achieving the budget's policy goals. 2019 57
Audit Report Issued by the supreme audit institution, this document examines the soundness and completeness of the government's year-end accounts. 2019 33

Sri Lanka’s transparency score of 30 in the OBS 2021 is substantially lower than its score in 2019.

What changed in OBS 2021?

Sri Lanka has decreased the availability of budget information by:

Failing to produce the Citizens Budget and In-Year Reports.
Reducing the information provided in the Executive's Budget Proposal by failing to publish the Draft Budget Estimates (3 volumes).

Recommendations

Sri Lanka should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:

Publish the Pre-Budget Statement online in a timely manner.
Produce and publish the Citizens Budget, In-Year Reports and Mid-Year Review online in a timely manner.
Consistently publish the Draft Budget Estimates along with the Executive's Budget Proposal. Furthermore, include the functional classification of expenditures, multi-year estimates of revenues and expenditures, details of the composition of government debt for the budget year and prior years, and information on extra-budgetary funds and tax expenditures.
Include in the Year-End Report comparisons between borrowing estimates and actual outcomes, comparisons between planned nonfinancial outcomes and actual outcomes and comparisons between the original macroeconomic forecast and actual outcomes.
Improve the comprehensiveness of the Audit Report. This could be accomplished by including an executive summary of its main findings.
19 /100

The OBS assesses the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process. It examines the practices of the central government’s executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution (SAI) using 18 equally weighted indicators, aligned with the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency’s Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policies , and scores each country on a scale from 0 to 100.

Sri Lanka has a public participation score of 19 (out of 100).

Public participation in Sri Lanka compared to others

Global Average
14
Nepal
24
Sri Lanka
19
Afghanistan
13
Bangladesh
13
India
9
Pakistan
9
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

For more information, see here  for innovative public participation practices around the world.

Extent of opportunities for public participation in the budget process

20
/100
Formulation
(executive)
33
/100
Approval
(legislature)
0
/100
Implementation
(executive)
33
/100
Audit
(supreme audit institution)
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance has established public consultations during budget formulation but, to further strengthen public participation in the budget process, should also prioritize the following actions:

Pilot mechanisms to engage the public when monitoring budget implementation.
Expand mechanisms during budget formulation to engage any civil society organization or member of the public who wishes to participate.
Proactively invite and include vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organizations representing them.

Sri Lanka's Parliament has established public hearings related to the approval of the annual budget, but should also prioritize the following actions:

Allow any member of the public or any civil society organization to testify during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval.
Allow members of the public or civil society organizations to testify during its hearings on the Audit Report.

Sri Lanka's National Audit Office has established mechanisms for the public to assist in developing its audit program. It should prioritize the following actions to improve public participation in the budget process:

Establish formal mechanisms for the public to contribute to relevant audit investigations.
57 /100

The OBS examines the role that legislatures and supreme audit institutions (SAIs) play in the budget process and the extent to which they provide oversight; each country is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 based on 18 equally weighted indicators. In addition, the survey collects supplementary information on independent fiscal institutions (see Box).

The legislature and supreme audit institution in Sri Lanka, together, provide limited oversight during the budget process, with a composite oversight score of 57 (out of 100). Taken individually, the extent of each institution’s oversight is shown below:

Legislative oversight

0
56
100
limited

Audit oversight

0
61
100
adequate
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Sri Lanka's Parliament provides limited oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and limited oversight during the implementation stage. To improve oversight, the following actions should be prioritized:

The legislature should debate budget policy before the Executive’s Budget Proposal is tabled and approve recommendations for the upcoming budget.
A legislative committee should examine in-year budget implementation and publish reports with their findings online.
In practice, ensure the legislature is consulted before the executive reduces spending due to revenue shortfalls.
A legislative committee should examine the Audit Report and publish a report with their findings online.

To strengthen independence and improve audit oversight by the Sri Lanka National Audit Office, the following actions are recommended:

Require legislative or judicial approval to appoint the head of the supreme audit institution.

The emerging practice of establishing independent fiscal institutions

Sri Lanka does not have an independent fiscal institution (IFI). IFIs are increasingly recognized as valuable independent and nonpartisan information providers to the Executive and/or Parliament during the budget process.

*These indicators are *not* scored in the Open Budget Survey.

Methodology

  • Only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2020 were assessed in the OBS 2021.
     
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert:
    Udahiruni Atapattu Dinuk De Silva; Salma Razick; Deshal De Mel; Miflal Musammil; Yasmin Raji
    Verite Research
    5A Police Park Place, Colombo 00500, Sri Lanka
    [email protected]
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert.
Past reports
Years
Language
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN