Now showing items 1-20 of 196

    • 10 years since the infamous "bond scam" 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-02-27)
      The 27th of February marks ten years since the infamous “bond scam” of 2015. This resulted in a forensic audit, completed in 2019, on activities of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with regard to bond market auctions ...
    • 2023 Budget's revenue target missed by LKR 382 Bn 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Verité Research, 2024-08)
      The Ministry of Finance Annual Report, released on 31st May 2024, shows that in 2023, total revenue including grants fell short of the Budget target by LKR 382 billion or 11%. In 2023, actual total revenue and grants ...
    • 2023 government expenditure surge matches the increase in interest payments​ 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verite Research, 2024-06-26)
      Government spending increased by 20% in 2023, reaching LKR 5,357 billion, up from LKR 4,473 billion in 2022. This LKR 884 billion increase was primarily due to an LKR 890 billion rise in interest payments. In contrast, ...
    • 2024 Budget Proposal Progress: Majority of the Proposals With Less Than 80% Financial Utilisation 

      Econ Team (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-11-03)
      In November 2023, the then Finance Minister, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, presented 50 expenditure budget proposals with a value of LKR 212,740 million to Parliament. Of these, 24 proposals worth over LKR 500 million ...
    • 2025 Vote on Account: Revenue and expenditure - Revenue increase is less than the increase in primary expenditure 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2024-12-13)
      On 6 December, Parliament approved the 2025 Vote on Account, allocating funds for the first four months of the year. For January to April 2025, primary expenditure—which includes both recurring and capital spending but ...
    • 9 Years Since Bond Scam 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2024-02-27)
      The 27th of February marks nine years since the infamous “bond scam” of 2015. This resulted in a forensic audit, completed in 2019, on activities of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with regard to bond market auctions ...
    • Addressing the Gender Gap in Sri Lanka's budget 

      Raji, Yasmin; Samarasinha, Dharini (Colombo Verité Research, 2022-07)
      These infographics highlight the failure of the Sri Lankan government in implementing gender responsive budgeting in Sri Lanka. The case of gender KPIs provides a detailed case study of how poor planning of government ...
    • Agriculture: Key NPP manifesto promises 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-02-13)
      The NPP Presidential Election manifesto for 2024 outlines several new promises to address the existing challenges in the agricultural sector, including low production efficiency, high costs, and the decline of key export ...
    • Amendments to the Appropriation Bill Increases Government Expenditure for 2022 

      Raj Prabu, Rajakulendran (Verité Research, 2022-08-04)
      The Amendment to the Appropriation Bill for 2022 was presented to Parliament ahead of the interim budget speech. The amended bill shows a 20% increase in expenditure to LKR 4,672 billion for the year 2022 which could widen ...
    • Appropriation Bill 2025: Ministerial allocations 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-01-07)
      The Appropriation Bill for 2025, presented to Parliament on 9 January 2025, allocates funds for government spending for the full year of 2025 – following the Vote on Account which only allocated funds for the first 4 months ...
    • Appropriation Bill 2026: Overall Summary and Ministry Allocations 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-10-14)
      The Appropriation Bill for 2026 sets government expenditure (excluding capital repayments) at LKR 7,128 billion. For 2026, the First Schedule allocates LKR 4,434 billion for non-debt-servicing: LKR 3,028 billion for recurrent ...
    • Average Time Taken to Restructure Debt 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (2022-06)
      A country resorts to debt restructuring when its public debt is unsustainable. Debt restructuring involves a substantive default on existing debt contracts. This can occur through an orderly or disorderly process. An orderly ...
    • Bloomberg Markets Predicts LKR's Possible Depreciation Against USD 

      Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-06-02)
      Bloomberg reported that the Sri Lankan rupee may deteriorate as a result of upcoming debt repayments. In March 2023 Verite Research took the view that greater volatility in exchange rates increases uncertainty and risk for ...
    • Budget 2025 - Key Expenditure Proposals 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-02-25)
      On 17 February, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake delivered his first budget speech for the 2025 fiscal year. Among the expenditure proposals outlined in the budget, the largest is the salary increase for government ...
    • Budget 2026: LKR 500 Bn Supplementary Allocation for Cyclone Ditwah Recovery Narrows Fiscal Space 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2026-01-12)
      On 19 December 2025, the Sri Lankan Parliament approved a supplementary allocation of LKR 500 billion (approximately USD 1.6 billion) to fund recovery efforts following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. However, ...
    • Budget 2026: Parliament and the Public Deprived of Real Numbers 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-12-12)
      Sri Lanka’s Constitution grants Parliament full control over public finances, exercised primarily through the debate and approval of the annual budget. In practice, however, the public finance and budgeting system has long ...
    • Budget performance 2023 - Expenditure: Limit overshot by LKR 104 billion 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verite Research, 2024)
      The Ministry of Finance Annual Report, released on 31st May 2024, shows that in 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka exceeded its total expenditure by LKR 104 billion. The total expenditure budgeted based on the government’s ...
    • Budget Promises: 2021 End Year Assessment Infographics 

      Econ Team (2022)
      For the end year assessment of the 2021 budget, 37 RTI requests were filed to 28 implementing government agencies for information on Expenditure Proposals and Verité filed 12 RTI requests with 9 implementing government ...
    • Budget Promises: 2023 End Year Assessment - Infographics 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verite Research, 2024-06)
      For the end-year assessment of the 2023 budget, the top 25 expenditure proposals, worth LKR 49.3 billion, along with seven regulatory proposals, were tracked. The proposals were categorized into five groups based on their ...
    • Budget Transparency: Score card - Sri Lanka is ranked 80th out of 125 countries 

      Public Finance Infographics;
      Econ Team
      (Colombo: Verité Research, 2024-07-31)
      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, ...