Sri Lanka

Promoting Infrastructure and Fiscal Transparency and Business Ethics To Strengthen Democracy

Sri Lanka experienced the Aragalaya movement in 2022, when an economic and governance crisis spurred thousands of people to protest on the street against rampant corruption and the government’s mishandling of the economy. Severely reduced government revenues and foreign reserves led to high inflation and significant shortages in essential items, such as food, medicine, gas, and fuel. People viewed the government as culpable, and protests led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in June 2022.

Evidence-based economic policies and transparent public financial management will be central to helping Sri Lanka overcome its current economic crisis. Public engagement is also critical. Easier access to credible information is among the needs cited to raise awareness, build capacity and resilience, and encourage widespread trust. CIPE and local partners are working to achieve this by gathering, organizing, and presenting information on public finance and overall governance in easy to-understand language and formats. Additionally, as part of one key initiative, partners identified critical points in the infrastructure-development process and how civil society can effectively engage at such times. This led to the establishment of the Alliance for Sustainable Infrastructure (ASI), Sri Lanka’s first inclusive and representative regional network of CSOs addressing large-scale infrastructure transparency.

Sri Lanka must contend with years of mismanaged public funds by successive governments and the active undermining of democratic values. This amplifies the importance of CIPE’s ongoing work to promote transparency and accountability in large-scale infrastructure projects and public financial management and improve the Sri Lankan private sector’s capacity in reducing internal corruption and promoting business ethics.

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CIPE Experts Share Insights on Sri Lanka Economy..Read more Sri Lanka Programs & Partners..Read more Sri Lanka’s Budget Challenges: Working Toward Sustainable Economic Recovery…Read more

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