Budget 2026: Disclosure in line with the professional standards expected in Public Financial Management Act?

Abstract

The 2026 Budget, presented on 7 November 2025 by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is the first full-year budget prepared under the Public Financial Management Act No. 44 of 2024 (PFM Act). That status matters. The PFM Act is intended to set a standard for how governments plan, present, and explain fiscal policy. Parliament and the public should therefore expect clearer assumptions, fuller disclosure, and more coherent reporting than in previous years.

Most of the core budget documents set in the PFM Act are available. However, several releases contain material gaps. These gaps reduce Parliament’s and the public’s ability to test the government’s fiscal narrative, compare promises against resources, and judge whether the budget path is credible.

This is important because budgets do more than just outline spending; they also serve as declarations of intent that institutions are bound to. When disclosures are incomplete or inconsistent, it becomes more difficult to scrutinize, increasing the chances of unexpected fiscal surprises.

For more details and the specific inconsistencies identified across the budget releases, read Verité Research’s State of the Budget 2026 report: https://www.veriteresearch.org/publication/state-of-the-budget-2026/