The Problem with Procurement

Abstract

Sri Lanka’s 2023 IMF Programme includes a commitment to disclose public procurement contracts through an online fiscal transparency platform. The online transparency platform was to be operational by March 2023, but the platform was not established by the 31st of March and the commitment was thus not met. Regulation 20 and Section 9 of the RTI Act and its guidelines of the Right to information Act No.12 of 2016, which has been in effect since 2017, requires the government to proactively disclose information relating to projects, including procurement and contract information. Verite Research's Infrastructure Watch dashboard assessed 60 infrastructure projects worth LKR 2.54 trillion for compliance with proactive disclosure requirements of Section 9 of the RTI Act. Disclosure for procurement and contract related information was found to be alarmingly low.