This study of the fiscal policy in the economy of Sri Lanka (1930-1950) contributes to the understanding of the structural characteristics of underdeveloped economies in the use of fiscal policy as a method of dealing with the problems of economic development. This book includes three case studies of public finance in the economy of Sri Lanka in opposite and contrasting situations. The first study relates to the depression of the 1930s, the second, to the circumstances because of the Second World War, and the third, to the boom that occurred in the post-war period. This book provides an analysis of the situations, as well as aid towards understanding the problems of an import-export economy.