Sri Lanka, Sept. 29 -- Sri Lanka scores just 9 out of 100 for public participation in the Open Budget Survey 2025. The score points to a basic weakness in the country's budget process: there are too few formal opportunities for the public to contribute to decisions about how public money is raised, allocated, and spent.

'Across the four stages of the budget cycle-formulation, approval, implementation and audit-Sri Lanka provides avenues for public input only during formulation and audit,' says Verite Research.

. There is no formal mechanism for participation during parliamentary approval or budget implementation. Even where opportunities exist, they remain limited in scope and are not consistently supported by clear rules, inclusive out...