Funds collected under the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ initiative have remained entirely unutilised and are currently held in a separate account at the Treasury, officials from the Auditor General’s Department informed the Committee on Public Finance (COPF).
The matter arose during a recent COPF meeting, where committee members sought clarification on the status, management and auditing of the initiative, which has been publicly referred to as the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ fund.
Committee Chairman Harsha de Silva questioned whether such a fund formally exists, noting concerns over transparency and accountability.
“We have seen reports on the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ fund, but to my knowledge, no such fund exists. Where have the donors’ funds been deposited? How is it audited?” he asked.
An official from the Auditor General’s Department explained that although a Cabinet decision had been taken in 2025 to establish the initiative, it had never been formally created as a statutory fund under the law. As a result, donations were deposited into a DST account maintained by the General Treasury.
“All the money that came in is currently held in a special Treasury account. Not a single cent has been used,” an Auditor General’s Department official told the committee.
The official further stated that the department had verified the account balance through audit procedures and confirmed that the funds remained untouched as of the latest audit review.
During the discussion, de Silva stressed that the initiative should not be referred to as a “fund” until it is formally established through the required legal process.
While the names of donors and the amounts contributed are publicly accessible on an official website, COPF members questioned why the funds have not been utilised for their intended purpose. (Newswire)