Budget proposes selected student share portfolios, not a universal cash payment

Updated November 14: SEC welcomes the two Budget proposals

Sri Lanka's Securities and Exchange Commission has welcomed the inclusion of two proposals it had advocated in the 2027 Budget: the "A Share for Everyone" programme for Advanced Level students and a mechanism to support small and medium enterprises seeking stock-market listings. The commission set out its response in a media release dated November 13.

Commission chairman Senior Professor Hareendra Dissabandara described the measures as an important step towards a deeper capital market, wider investor participation and a stronger connection between economic growth and capital formation. These are the outcomes the commission expects from the programmes, rather than results already measured.

Students to gain practical exposure to capital markets

The student programme follows the vision "Let's Know, Let's Learn, Let's Invest". It is designed to give eligible Advanced Level students practical exposure to capital markets, build financial literacy, encourage an informed approach to investment and support thinking about long-term wealth creation among young Sri Lankans.

Listing support aims to open another funding route for SMEs

The SME Listing Support Mechanism is intended to help small and medium enterprises raise capital through stock-market listings. The commission said this could create more room for business growth, improve corporate governance and transparency, and broaden the investment choices available to the public. It described SMEs as a central part of the economy.

Taken together, the commission sees the student programme and SME support as measures acting on both demand for investments and the supply of investment opportunities. It said they address market participation that has historically remained low compared with the country's potential.

The commission thanked President and Finance, Planning and Economic Development Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Deputy Finance and Planning Minister Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando, Deputy Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe, and Treasury Secretary Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma for their guidance and consideration of its proposals.

The commission said it would work with the Ministry of Finance, the Colombo Stock Exchange, and education and industry stakeholders to put the programmes into effect.

Earlier reporting retained for context

Published reporting indicates a 2027 Budget proposal intended to bring more people into Sri Lanka's share market, including selected Grade 13 students who are over 18 and sitting their Advanced Level examination. Under the reported plan, a formal selection process would identify recipients of a share portfolio worth up to Rs 10,000. This is not an announced Rs 10,000 cash payment for every student, nor confirmation that registration is already open.

The report describes the initiative as 'a share for all' and connects it to learning about investment. It also reports a separate proposed mechanism to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to list on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The student initiative and the business-listing proposal serve different participants and should not be confused with an instruction for students to buy shares in a particular company.

The published report attributes to the Budget speech a figure of about 0.7% for active share-market participation among Sri Lankans over 18. It also mentions Rs 250 million from the exchange and an additional Rs 500 million for the reported initiatives. This report has not inspected a detailed funding schedule explaining which component each amount supports, and does not present the combined amounts as the student-portfolio budget alone.

The current scheme details remain attributed to the published report. Final exchange or regulator rules on selection, account opening, ownership, holding periods and implementation dates have not been verified here. Shares can fall in value as well as rise; a proposed starter portfolio is not a guaranteed return or a recommendation to trade. The photograph is a generic financial-planning illustration, not a participant, an application screen or an official programme document.