- Risk key
- Low
- MODERATELY LOW
- MODERATE
- MODERATELY HIGH
- HIGH
Sri Lanka Corruption Report
Snapshot
There is a moderately high risk of corruption for businesses in Sri Lanka. The most common forms of corruption include facilitation payments paid to avoid bureaucratic red tape, bribe solicitation by government officials, nepotism and cronyism. There is a high-level of corruption in the public procurement sector. The main anti-corruption laws are the Penal Code and Bribery Act, which criminalize corruption and attempted corruption in the form of extortion, and active and passive bribery. No clear distinction between bribery and facilitation payments is made, but gifts given with a corrupt intent are prohibited under the Prevention of Corruption Act. While Sri Lanka’s government has started to enforce the anti-corruption laws, enforcement remains constrained by a lack of resources and technical expertise, and powerful political elites often go unpunished for committing corruption crimes.