Professor in Economics at the University of Peradeniya Wasantha Athukorala highlighted Sri Lanka’s increasing domestic debt and rising interest payments—which have come in to focus in the current political discourse. He claimed that LKR 2,651 bil

Former MP Patali Champika Ranawaka contends that despite promises made before the elections, to reduce the prices and taxes on fuels, it has not happened. He supports this claim by citing the difference between the import and market prices of the fue

President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka advocates for an increased presence of professionals in the IT sector.

Dilith Jayaweera, leader of the Mawbima Janatha Pakshaya (MJP) claims: (1) that the former President Wickremesinghe increased the prices of oil and gas, fourfold; and (2) that the subsequent absence of gas queues during his presidency was a result of

MP Madhura Withanage claimed that in the first six months of 2024, (i) tax revenue had increased by LKR 1,700 billion, growing by 42.6%, and achieving 44.7% of the annual estimate, and (ii) non-tax revenue had increased by 30.4%, reaching 52.7% of th

Minister Ali Sabry argues that Bangladesh and Vietnam’s economies have outpaced Sri Lanka’s since 1991, driven by growth in exports. To support his argument, he cites export figures for all three countries from 1991, and 2023. The figures show th

MP Champika Ranawaka cites a Ministry of Finance (MoF) document on tax expenditure, indicating that the loss of tax revenue due to the VAT concession could have been used to increase government employee salaries by Rs. 30,000 per month.

At a public meeting in Japan, MP Dissanayaka claimed that the availability of foreign currency enabling the purchase of essentials such as gas, fuel, and medicines is due to (1) the inflow of worker remittances and (2) the suspension of debt repaymen

To emphasise the need for concentrated government efforts to address child poverty, MP Premadasa claimed that (i) 25% of children in this country suffer from (income-based) poverty, and (ii) 42% of children are experiencing multidimensional poverty.

MP Alahapperuma argued that children with disabilities in Sri Lanka are underserved in their educational needs, claiming that 34% of children [with disabilities] do not receive any level of formal education based on the latest available data.

In response to an alleged social media post stating that the total foreign debt was USD 71 billion and increased to USD 100 billion during his presidency, President Wickremesinghe, stated in parliament that (1) the total foreign debt is only USD 37 b

Minister Gunawardana justifies transferring expressways to a state-owned investment company to operate them as a “commercial enterprise” by arguing that: (a) Sri Lanka has borrowed LKR 800 billion in foreign loans to construct these expressways,

MP Rajapaksa claims that during his tenure as president (2005-2014), there was an (1) unbroken nine-year economic boom, and (2) there was no difficulty in paying off debts.    To verify these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted data from the Central Ba

In parliament, MP Lakshman Kiriella claimed that (a) no country has taken as long as Sri Lanka (2.5 years) to complete the debt restructuring process, and (b) every country completed it within 1.5 years. To verify this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted t

In parliament, MP Rohana Bandara argued that the president’s futuristic claims were unrealistic and seemed to lack practical feasibility. Among his examples to further his argument, he stated that the government had failed to fulfill 94% of the bud

In a parliamentary speech, MP Ashok Abeysinghe claimed that 237,143 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) closed between 2020 and 2022 due to the economic crisis. This statement was made in the broader context of debates around micro, small, and medium

Addressing parliament, MP Hesha Withanage claimed that the losses accumulated by SriLankan Airlines (SLA) amounted to Rs. 609 billion, which in turn placed an average financial burden of Rs. 107,000 per family in the country. To check this claim, Fa

President’s Advisor Sunanda Madduma Bandara stated that Sri Lanka’s unemployment rate reduced from a high of 5.5% in 2020 (highest since 2009) to 4.7% in 2023—and attributed it to government policy success. To verify the claim, FactCheck.lk con

MP Ranawaka claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that Sri Lanka has borrowed more than it has repaid, citing USD 3 billion in new loans and USD 2 billion in repayments. FactCheck.lk understands his claim, as cited in his X thread, to refer to the period a

In his speech, MP Pasqual argues that only a small fraction (10%) of students have the opportunity to attend university and that everybody else, after completing school, is “left to drift aimlessly.” FactCheck.lk interprets the MP’s larger clai

In parliament, MP Vijitha Herath made two claims about expenditure allocations related to the president: (1) the budget line item titled president’s expenditure head (to discharge duties as the head of state) has increased to LKR 3,779 million, and

The MP argued at a press conference that Sri Lanka’s tax policies don’t take adequate account of the huge inequality existing among Sri Lankan citizens, when designing the distribution of the tax burden. In support of this larger argument, he pro

To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the Weekly Economic Indicators of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual sixth edition (BPM6), and IMF Country Report No. 23/12.

In his briefing to the press, the MP interprets Article 31(3) of the constitution to say that a presidential election must certainly be conducted between 18 September and 18 October 2024. To evaluate this cla

This claim by the State Minister Siyambalapitya was reported differently in the press. However, FactCheck.lk evaluated only his associated social media post. He can be understood as claiming that 4 million individuals will be receiving monthly paymen

In his statement, the MP claims that Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP ratio reduced from 90% at the end of 2005 to 69% by the end of 2014. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk referred to the Annual Reports of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the Minis

MP Alawathuwala claims that the food expenses have tripled from 2019 to 2023, increasing from LKR6,000-6,500 to LKR 16,000-17,000. To verify the above claims, FactCheck.lk referred to multiple publications of the Department of Census and Statistics:

In his speech, the MP sets out a standard monetary poverty measure of the World Bank as 25% of the Sri Lankan population; and argues that when multidimensional factors such as education and health are considered, the poverty level is much greater. He

MP Dissanayake claimed that debt had increased to unprecedented levels during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as prime minister (PM) from 2015 to 2019. In support of his argument, the MP cited that between 2015 and 2020, debt had increased by LKR 6.5

Fact check: The president is correct if the statement is read to mean that it is not possible to secure any more monetary financing until January 2024. Read the full fact-check on the website.