Sri Lanka’s parliament passed on Wednesday an anti-corruption bill designed to strengthen governance and fight corruption in the country’s government. With the passage of the bill, the government is also hopeful to receive economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which previously denied Sri Lanka assistance based on their lack of compliance with international corruption standards.
In 2022, Sri Lanka experienced an economic downturn so severe that it spurred nationwide protests. Because of this, Sri Lanka sought economic assistance from the IMF. In March, the IMF approved a SDR 2.286 billion (about US$3 billion) aid package for Sri Lanka. The aid package, however, was conditional on Sri Lanka adapting its legislation to bring it in line with the IMF’s international corruption standards. By doing so, the IMF hoped that Sri Lanka would ensure that the financial aid is utilized to improve the living conditions of the people, rather than benefiting corrupt officials within the government.
The bill passed through Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Wednesday morning without a vote. A first draft of the bill was presented to Parliament on April 27, but was later amended with 20 additional pages. Parliament passed the amended version of the bill, bringing the country into compliance with the IMF’s requests.
The new anti-corruption legislation primarily focuses on eradicating bribery and corruption. It aims to increase accountability among government officials and promote transparency in their actions. The legislation empowers Parliament to set the salaries of three members of an anti-corruption commission and its director-general. Corrupt assets will be directly transferred to the commission, and various authorities will conduct joint investigations to ensure objectivity. Government officials will also be required to disclose their assets in full. These key provisions have been analyzed and amended with the aid of independent legal experts.
During the 2022 economic downturn, Sri Lanka experienced 80 percent food inflation rate, power cuts and shortages of basic necessities such as paper, medicines, gas and milk. Financial constraints, such as the country defaulting on its debts, further exacerbated these issues and led to a halt in imports to the country.
Localized protests over the economic hardships eventually grew into nationwide protests, prompting a political crisis as the government struggled to hold onto power. During the protests, access to social media networks was limited and the government granted police expanded powers to intimidate and detain protesters. Eventually, then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia.
Since a new government came into power and secured the IMF aid package, the country has began to recover. To ensure the changes boost recovery efforts, the IMF is set to conduct and deliver a detailed analysis of the adopted changes by September.
