COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Parliament has passed an anti-corruption bill, aimed at improving governance in the crisis-hit nation and meeting requirements linked to a 2.9 billion dollars bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The bill was approved without a vote in opposition in the 225-member house.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the speaker of Parliament, told members that the bill is approved with amendments, following over 2 dozen pages of amendments were included in the draft during the session, according to media reports.
Sri Lanka’s economy hit by the worst economic crisis in more than seventy years after a grave foreign exchange crunch in 2022 forced the island country to default on its foreign loans, which resulted in increasing inflation and rapid fall of its currency.
Sri Lanka’s IMF programme
However the fortunes of the country improved after it secured a 2.9 billion dollars programme with the IMF in March, which included bringing new anti-corruption legislation to strengthen governance and bring it in line with the UN Convention Against Corruption.
This is the first time a programme of IMF has been linked to such a move in Asia.
The bill increases the powers and resources allocated to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABC) of Sri Lanka, which is mandated with carrying out big investigations. It can now conduct joint probes with local and international counterparts.
The legislation also makes it necessary for electoral candidates to declare their assets, which would be published ahead of polls.
