Projects and transparency

The presentation of the annual Budget usually generates much discussion, but once it is passed, monitoring its implementation rarely gets as much focus. A quarterly review done by the Finance Ministry into Budget-funded projects begun in 2020 has shown that 289 projects, allocated over Rs. 3.5 trillion from the consolidated fund are suffering from delays. 

The report, tabled before the Cabinet this week by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, found 289 development projects, each over Rs. 1 billion were implemented under 40 line ministries in 2020. Approximately, Rs. 710 billion were allocated for these projects and financial progress was at 72%, but physical progress on the ground was slow. An additional Rs. 2.9 trillion is to be allocated for the future activities of these development projects. 

Despite the massive amounts of public money at stake, the report found various issues and obstacles have arisen in the implementation of these projects, and although about Rs. 8 billion has been spent on additional staff allocations for these projects, expected results have not been achieved within the approved cost and timeframe.  

A range of issues, including ad hoc pre-preparations of some projects and delays in obtaining required approvals from Government institutions, were highlighted as issues in the report. The Cabinet decided to appoint a committee made up of relevant ministerial secretaries and headed by State Minister for Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal to hold monthly meetings to track progress, but the actual issues will likely 

remain ingrained. 

In 2019, the typical Budget process did not take place due to pending presidential elections. Then, once that was wound up, COVID-19 hit and delayed the parliamentary elections. This resulted in several Vote-on-Accounts being signed off by the President, rather than the typical annual Budget process. Clearly, this also resulted in less transparency and oversight, which is difficult to achieve, even at the best of times in 

Sri Lanka. 

The projects mapped in the quarterly report are clearly of importance to be given allocations of over Rs. 1 billion, but there is no central collection point where information is released to the public. Information is at the core of change and the public have a right to know how funds are being deployed. Therefore, these quarterly reports should be released to the public and compiled in such a way that at least progress reports of the most expensive projects are 

accessible. 

Other measures that have been proposed include establishing a parliamentary Budget Office that will have access to reports compiled by line ministries, and they can be discussed in the House. This provides for greater transparency and will act as a conduit for the public to gain information. Another measure could be legal changes to reduce the ability of the Budget Department of the Finance Ministry to allocate public funds in a discretionary manner. Even the simple act of making Cabinet papers public would move Sri Lanka much further along the road of transparency. 

One recurring issue is the lack of a clear methodology on how projects are selected. Projects are often decided on an ad hoc basis with little or no pre-planning for feasibility studies. Sometimes, they are picked at the behest of politicians. This results in implementation being hamstrung. Better planning and prioritisation of projects infused with transparency is the best way to make the most of limited resources.