Sri Lanka’s parliament to vote on 2022 budget

Sri Lanka is voting on its 2022 budget today.

The Sri Lankan government began debates on November 12^th and they are expected to vote on the 2022 appropriations budget later today. If it passes, the bill will move into a committee debate stage expected to last until December 10^th.

Experts have pointed out a notable 21% increase in funding for defense. Sri Lanka is historically unaligned and multilateral, enjoying friendly diplomatic relations with most world powers. But, as accusations of human rights violations have built up against the Rajapaksa administration, Sri Lanka faces a challenge of juggling these multi-lateral relations under increased criticism.

Sri Lanka will likely approve the increased defense spending as the Rajapaksa government has consolidated many departments under the Ministry of Defense. However, as accused human rights violations sour relations with the West, expect the Sri Lankan government to seek more assistance from Eastern powers such as Russia and China. The island country stands to gain more from authoritarian governments who will turn a blind eye to issues such as human rights, so future geopolitical hedging towards these governments may help meet their express need for foreign direct investment to overcome economic difficulties created by the pandemic.