Sri Lanka moves to Budget 2021 with poor implementation record

• Analysis finds 41% of proposals in the Budget 2019 not implemented
• Divergence in what’s said in budget speech and what’s implemented 
• Openess on proposals was hindered by frequent changes to ministerial portfolios
• Need for credible budget stressed to break vicious cycle

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
As Sri Lanka awaits a national budget for the year 2021 next month, after a hiatus with no national budget presented for 2020, an analysis has shown that 41 percent of the proposals in the Budget 2019 were not implemented. 

According to BudgetPromises.Org platform, it is revealed that there is divergence in what is said in the budget speech and what is implemented, in both expenditure proposals and policy proposals.

“Openness on proposals was hindered by the frequent changes to ministerial portfolios. The budget monitoring process revealed that the fragmentation of ministries had resulted in a breakdown of the lines of responsibility,” said Verité Research commenting on the Budget 2019 progress achieved to-date.

The Colombo-based think tank highlighted that even those who were tasked with oversight of the budget were not able to provide clarity on the agencies responsible for implementing specific budget proposals. 

While there was no information available on the implementation of 32 percent of proposals, Verité Research said there is significant deterioration from the problem of missing information in the previous year, where only 13 percent of the proposals fell into this category of no information. 

Updated information on the annual progress was found online for only two of the 37 proposals tracked by 
the platform. 

“Although responsiveness to requests under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has remained steady, poor proactive disclosure and the overall lack of visibility on proposals points to significant room for improvement in the openness of government,” the think tank said.  

To break the cycle of having repeated unfulfilled budget promises, Verité Research stressed the need of having a credible budget implementation process. “A credible budget is one that delivers on the promises made, and provides information and reasons to explain the promises that are not met. 

However, the findings of BudgetPromises.Org points to a budget that is unable to maintain such credibility,” the think tank said.

To have a credible budget, the Verité Research stressed the need to develop and document supporting information and analysis for each proposal prior to including it in the budget. While providing timely and consistent disclosure on budget implementation on ministry websites, it said the government must look to provide better oversight through the executive and legislature, such as the parliamentary committees and structures. 

Verité Research also suggested that efforts must be taken to reduce the fragmentation of ministerial portfolios and ensure that a clear line of accountability is maintained on the implementation of each

proposal.BudgetPromises.Org is an online platform that was launched in 2017 that tracks the progress and openness of key proposals in the budget. In 2019, the platform tracked 37 promises with a total allocation of Rs.100, 875 million from the 2019 budget.