By: Faraz Shauketaly
We’re looking at a number so large it’s enough to make even the most seasoned accountant reach for the smelling salts.
One trillion rupees. Yes, you read that correctly. Twelve zeros.
It seems the “Ditwah” relief and recovery effort is set to cost us roughly 3.5 billion US dollars over the next three years.
Now, in a country that’s still nursing the bruises of a sovereign default, that is quite a bit of “change” to find under the sofa cushions.
The December Dash
Our Deputy Treasury Secretary, Mr. A. K. Seneviratne, recently graced the Committee on Public Finance with some rather eye-watering details. For this month alone—December 2025—we’re looking at a 75 billion rupee bill.
Parliament has already scrambled to re-allocate 50 billion of that.
One can’t help but wonder if the legislative process is starting to feel more like a game of musical chairs, where the chairs are made of taxpayer money and the music never seems to stop.
The Road Ahead (Literally)
Looking into 2026, the spending spree continues. Parliament has given the nod to an extra 500 billion rupees. A cool 115 billion of that is earmarked for “strengthening slopes” on our key roads.
Given the state of some of our highways, one hopes we’re actually strengthening the hillsides and not just the bank accounts of the contractors.
Meanwhile, our friend at the Road Development Authority, Mr. Wimal Kandamby, tells us that rebuilding bridges could take 18 months or longer.
In Sri Lankan time, that’s practically an eternity—long enough for a bridge to be planned, opened, and probably have its first pothole before the ribbon is even cut.
Breaking the Law?
Now, here’s where it gets really interesting. We have something called “public finance law”—a quaint little set of rules designed to stop the government from spending us into oblivion. It sets a cap on primary spending at 13% of GDP.
But, in what can only be described as a masterpiece of fiscal gymnastics, Mr. Seneviratne has admitted we’ll blow past that limit by about 1.4% in 2025.
He assures us, with a straight face, that we’ll be back within the rules by 2027.
It’s a bit like a man promising to start his diet on Monday while currently sitting in the middle of an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Taxing Our Way Out
And how are we paying for all this? Well, through “recent tax reforms,” of course. These are expected to claw back an extra 0.3% of GDP from your pockets. It seems that whenever the government has a “Ditwah” problem, the taxpayer gets the “Ditwah” bill.
The Treasury officials were given a bit of a roasting at the Committee on Public Finance. They’re trying to maintain “fiscal discipline” while simultaneously re-allocating billions like they’re dealing cards at a casino.
Final Thoughts
One has to ask: is this a genuine recovery effort, or is it another case of the state doubling down on “unproductive” capital spending while the anti-austerity crowd cheers from the sidelines?
We’ve seen grand projects before that ended up as nothing more than expensive monuments to ego. Let’s hope this one trillion rupee “investment” actually results in bridges that stay up and slopes that stay put.
