Prof. Athukorala on Budget: Well-structured on no structural change

Professor Wasantha Athukorala, an Economics professor at the University of Peradeniya, argues that there is no ‘structural’ change in the allocation of funds between 2024 and 2025. He supports this claim by noting that in both years, 31% of the budget is allocated to capital expenditure, while 69% is allocated for recurrent expenses.

To verify the claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the 2025 Appropriation bill, 2024 CBSL Annual Report, and the Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2014.

Exhibit 1 shows that the professor appears to be citing figures from only Schedule 1 of the appropriation bill, which does not report all expenditure. The largest component Schedule 1 excludes is interest expenditures, which is classified as a part of expenditure in the budget—as seen in CBSL annual reports, and section 4.24 of the GFSM (Pages 71 and 114).

Both in terms of total expenditure, and primary expenditure (that is total expenditure minus interest payments) there has been no structural change in the allocation of funds between 2024 and 2025 (see Exhibit 1). However, the numbers the professor cites are for primary expenditure and not total expenditure.

In sum, the professor’s argument—that there is no evidence of a structural change in fund allocation for 2025—is correct, and the figures he cites accurately reflect the primary expenditure component of the budget, although he overlooks distinction between total and primary expenditure.

Therefore, we classify the professor’s claim as TRUE.

Additional note: The historical average of the expenditure since 2000 also confirms 68% as the recurrent share when interest payments is excluded. 

Exhibit 1: Recurrent expenditure share in 2024 and 2025

*FactCheck.lk’s verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, if new information becomes available, FactCheck.lk will revisit the assessment.