DEVIKA PERERA

Today’s the anniversary Of the day I lost you, And for a time it felt as though My life had ended too.

MP Perera correct on industrial sector not so much on exports

In a parliamentary speech, the MP made two claims: (1) exports have decreased by 19.5%, and (2) the industrial sector has collapsed by 23.4% in the first quarter of 2023. To verify these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted the export and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics provided by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). On claim 1: The MP does n

MP Wickramaratne right on remittance reduction, but not up to date

During a Samagi Jana Balawegaya press conference, MP Wickramaratne made two claims in relation to remittances: (i) the highest amount of remittances was received during the 2016-2018 period,

State Minister Siyambalapitiya mispresents regress as progress on casino taxes

The statement in question was part of a longer parliamentary speech discussing the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2023 (BGL23). State Minister Siyambalapitiya argued that policymakers had made amendments to the taxation of casinos with the aim of increasing revenue collection and decreasing local participation. In this part of the statement, he claims: (1) a US

State Minister Jayaratne locks in argument on prisoner costs

In a broader discussion on the burden of prisons on the Treasury, the state minister advocated for the revamping of the prison system. In support of his stance, the state minister claimed that: (1) (a) the

MP Gammanpila raises false alarm on declining Sinhala population

To evaluate the MP’s claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the 1981 and 2012 censuses from the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). The census does not define the “City of Colombo.” The 2012 cen

MP Dissanayake misdiagnoses the quality of SL’s health services

To check the MP’s claim, FactCheck.lk consulted Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2022 report and the Global Health Security (GHS) Index developed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. The Health at a Glance (H

MP Amarasuriya: Women are contributing more but counted less in the labour force

The MP made three claims regarding low female labour force participation in Sri Lanka: (1) official statistics on contribution to the labour force underestimate women’s contribution to work by not taking account of unpaid work; (2) 60% of unpaid, caregiving work is done by women, and (3) women already work more hours in a day (14 hours) than men (9 hours). To evaluate these cl

MP Gammanpila on the CBSL’s step-motherly treatment of the EPF

The MP in his statement claims that (1) CBSL maintains both the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) of private and semi-government sector workers and a separate provident fund for its employees; and (2) the CBSL Provident Fund (CBSLP

MP Hakeem a bit dubious on Sri Lanka’s very dubious record [on economic governance]

In his speech, MP Hakeem makes two overall claims: (1) Sri Lanka will be the first Asian country subject to an IMF review of governance diagnostics, and (2) Sri Lanka was the first country in the

MP Gammanpila: IMF doesn’t demand DDR, but foreign debt holders do

In his statement, the MP makes two claims; 1) that the agreement signed with the IMF does not impose a condition on the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to restructure domestic debt, 2) that it is instead the foreign bondholders that have imposed a condition saying that domestic debt should also be restructured similar to foreign debt.

State Minister Siyambalapitiya rides well on vehicle import numbers

The state minister made this statement in the larger context of the government considering proposals to lift the existing restrictions on vehicle imports to boost government tax revenue. To check the state minister’s claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the Ministry of Finance Annual Report (MoFAR) 2022 and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Annual Report (CBSLAR) 2022. MoFAR rep

Minister Fernando’s ‘Great Wall’ of expectations from Chinese tourists is too high

The minister’s overall claim is that earnings from tourism could rescue the country from its current economic difficulties – and even be a substitute for the support of the IMF. To expound his claim,

President Wickremesinghe mistakes decreased inflation as decreased prices

To evaluate this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) and Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) published by the Department of Census and Statistics. Consumer Price Indexes measure the overall price level of a selected basket of consumption (based on how people tend to allocate their spending). The year-on-year (YoY) inflation statistic reports the percentage ch

MP Hashim spells out the increase of poverty in Sri Lanka

In his speech, MP Hashim claims that the number of people living in poverty has increased significantly since 2019. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the World Bank Poverty and Inequity Platform, the World Bank Poverty

MP Gammanpila right on the poor wrong on the rich on electricity prices

The MP makes two overall claims about the recent tariff hike in February 2023. First, the electricity bills of the ‘poor’ have increased by a significantly higher percentage compared to the ‘rich’. Second, the ‘rich’ have received a concession at the expense of the ‘poor’. To support these claims, the MP provides calculations: an 1138% increase in the electricity bill for individuals categorised by the MP as ‘poor’ (consuming 30 KwH per month) an

State Minister Siyambalapitiya cherry picks to cheer fiscal stability

The state minister’s overall claim is that Sri Lanka is making steady progress towards achieving fiscal stability. To support this claim, the state minister points out that Sri Lanka has achieved a primary balance of positive LKR 48 billion, against the IMF programme projection of negative LKR 56 billion for the first quarter of 2023. The primary balance is the difference between revenue and expenditure (excluding interest payments). To check his

Minister Gunawardena exposes lack of compliance on fiscal management laws

In his statement, the minister claims that the government has not adhered to the limits prescribed by the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act (FMRA). To substantiate this claim, the minister states li

MP De Silva exposes EPF & ETF exposure to govt. bonds

The MP in his statement makes two claims: (1) the majority of domestic bonds is in treasury bonds, which amounts to approximately LKR 9 trillion and (2) of the total treasury bonds, 45% is in banks and 43% was borrowed from the EPF and ETF. To evaluate these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted the Central Bank (CBSL) Annual Report 2022 for data on domestic debt as of 31 December 202

President makes ambiguous claim on debt restructuring

The information presented by the president is most easily interpreted as Sri Lanka pursuing a USD 17 billion reduction on the total stock of debt. However, it does not preclude another interpretation: a reduction in the flow of debt

Minister Nanayakkara right on the rise in remittances

The minister in his tweet claims a rise in worker remittances by Sri Lankan migrant workers in 2023 compared to 2022. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted data on the flow of foreign remittances published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). In public finance

MP Weerawansa makes spurious case against the IMF

In his statement, the MP claims that the government’s economic strategy in line with IMF guidance is not effective because total export income has decreased by 10% this year compared to last year. The MP

CBSL Governor corrects the record on “money printing”

Commenting on the question of inflationary pressure created in Sri Lanka due to increased money printing, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) claims that the money printing has reduced in 2022 compared to 2021. The gov

Minister Premajayantha inefficient in claiming efficiency of IMF process 

In his statement, the minister makes two claims. (1) The current IMF programme required Sri Lanka to complete programme actions before receiving IMF funding, while in the previous programmes the actions were completed after receiving the funding, and (2) Sri Lanka was exceptionally fast in formalising an IMF agreement [after the staff level agreement], having done so within 7 mo

Minister Wijesekera claims low profits with unaccountable version of the fuel price formula

This fact check is based on the minister’s recent tweet on the fuel price formula cost breakdown for a litre of petrol, diesel, and kerosene. The breakdown of the cost is meant to justify the price charged by the CPC for the following month. In his tweet, the minister claims the profit to the CPC is low with an unaccountable version of the fuel price formula. To chec

MP Shanakiyan shines a light on electricity tariff hike

To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted documentation published by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), including correspondence between the Ceylon electricity Board (C

State Minister Siyambalapitiya’s tax paying labour force numbers don’t work

The state minister claims that an extremely small portion of the labour force are eligible to be subject to Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. Since he made this claim in parliament, the statement has been cited and reported widely by high level decision makers and the media.

President right on reduction in registered tax files

The president claims that there were 1.5 million income tax files by the end of 2019 and that the income tax files dropped to 400,000 by the end of 2021. The president makes these claims in the context of attributing the reduction in tax files from 2019 to 2021 to the tax revisions made in 2020. To evaluate

AKD mistakes disparity in total economic activity as disparity in individual participation

In his statement, the MP makes two related claims: (i) Economic a

State minister Siyambalapitiya short on facts on import shortages

The state minister claims that fuel, medicine, and fertiliser are being imported without a shortage. To chec