Nearly 40% of 2025 Budget short of substantial implementation: Verité Research

Monday, 9 November 2026 05:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake

However, sets record with share of fulfilled proposals reaching eight-year high
Assessment tracked 36 high-value proposals, each valued at Rs. 500 m or more, collectively amounting to Rs. 212 b

Nearly 40%, that is 14 of 36 high-value proposals, in Sri Lanka’s 2025 Budget fell short of substantial implementation, according to the latest Budget Promises assessment by Verité Research.

At the same time, the share of fulfilled proposals increased from 17% in 2024 to 33% in 2025, marking the highest rate recorded since Verité Research began tracking Budget implementation in 2017. Overall, 41% (15 proposals) were either fulfilled or substantially implemented.

The improvement came despite a shorter-than-usual implementation window, as the Budget was presented in February 2025.

Another 19% (7 proposals) lacked sufficient information to assess progress and were classified as undisclosed.

The assessment tracked 36 high-value proposals, each valued at Rs. 500 million or more, collectively accounting for Rs. 212 billion in allocations.

Openness also showed notable progress. Nearly two-thirds of proposals (64%) were rated open. For the first time since 2017, no proposal was rated closed. That means, at least some information was available about every proposal, even when it was not adequate to evaluate progress.

Budget Promises is a dashboard under publicfinance.lk maintained by Verité Research that tracks the implementation of proposals made in Sri Lanka’s annual Budget speeches since 2017.

Detailed progress on each Budget Promise can be found on the dashboard at https://dashboards.publicfinance.lk/budget-promises/.