Appropriation Bill 2025: Ministerial allocations

Abstract

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 of the year. The government has allocated a total of LKR 4,218 billion as non-debt servicing expenditure for 2025 through the First Schedule of the Appropriation Bill, of which LKR 2,898 billion was allocated for recurrent expenditure and LKR 1,320 billion was allocated for capital expenditure.

The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has received the highest allocation in the 2025 Appropriation Bill, with LKR 714 billion. This marks a significant reduction compared to the allocation of LKR 1,077 billion to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies in 2024.

The Ministry of Health and Mass Media received the second-highest allocation at LKR 508 billion, followed by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government at LKR 497 billion and the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports, and Civil Aviation at LKR 473 billion - driven largely by capital expenditure amounting to LKR 421 billion. Notably, the Ministry of Defence received LKR 442 billion while the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education received LKR 271 billion (Sri Lanka’s government education expenditure is the world’s third lowest). The top 8 ministries collectively accounted for 90% of the total ministerial allocation.

The Second Schedule of the Appropriation Bill, which includes government expenditure authorized by laws charged on the Consolidated Fund, amounted to LKR 4,617 billion, compared to LKR 6,966 billion in 2024. The majority of the expenditure in the Second Schedule is allocated for debt service payments, with interest payments amounting to LKR 2,944 billion and capital repayments totaling LKR 1,595. Together, these account for 98% of the total Second Schedule expenditure.