🇺🇸🇱🇰 US Congress Delegation Visits Parliament to Strengthen Budget Oversight

• Strategic Partnership: A delegation from the US House Democracy Partnership (HDP) and the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is conducting a week-long technical exchange in Colombo (June 8–12) to help the Parliament of Sri Lanka independently analyze government spending, economic policies, and proposed legislation. • Capacity Building: CBO experts are engaging with ~100 Members of Parliament and staff, focusing heavily on members of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF). The sessions aim to design the structure of a Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) and develop a roadmap for long-term institutional capacity. • Institutional Framework: Similar to the nonpartisan CBO model in the US, Sri Lanka's proposed PBO will explore ways to provide lawmakers with objective, evidence-based analysis regarding costs, economic impacts, and long-term fiscal implications of new policies. • Economic Outlook: The initiative supports US efforts to foster a stable, transparent, and prosperous partner in the Indo-Pacific region, laying the groundwork for stronger conditions in trade, investment, and national economic growth. • Next Steps: To complement this initiative, the US Embassy in Sri Lanka will sponsor an exchange program in September for a select group of Sri Lankan MPs to study these governance elements firsthand in the United States.