COLOMBO, Oct. 9 -- Sri Lanka's Parliament on Thursday (8) passed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act without a vote, despite opposition warnings that the changes could weaken transparency safeguards and concerns raised by civil society and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The amendments revise the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023, which was introduced to strengthen accountability and align Sri Lanka's anti-corruption framework with international standards, including the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

IMF Sri Lanka Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou had cautioned that the proposed changes risked weakening safeguards relating to asset declarations and public ownership registers, which form part of the governance benc...