Claim 1: Concerns regarding repayment or credit risk can be assessed by the rate of interest demanded by borrowers and willingness to lend. The majority of Sri Lanka’s government non-ISB debt consists of domestic rupee debt (53.5% of total debt). O

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claims that there has been an increase in the exports of export agricultural crops (EACs) during 2020 when compared to 2019. Export Agricultural Crops (EAC) refers to a set of specific crops that are under the purview

In his statement, the Director General (DG) of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardana states that if COVID-19 reaches community spread, then the positive rate will spike up as an indication. He concludes by this criteria that Sri Lanka does not have c

To check this claim, FactCheck consulted data from Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board. The minister claims,

To check this claim, FactCheck consulted data from the Colombo Stock Exchange Quarterly Report and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Annual Report. LKR 104 billion is recorded as the total sales value (outflow) of foreign owned stoc

To evaluate the state minister’s claim FactCheck consulted the 2014 and 2019 Annual Reports of the Central Bank and the Cen

Money printing is more formally known as deficit financing. It refers to when the Central Bank finances the government’s budget deficit by creating new money to directly purchase government securities issued by the treasury. The Central Bank’s pu

To check this claim, of overwhelming global support for permitting burial of Covid-19 victims, FactCheck consulted the latest available guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the United Nations, Center for Disease Co

In his statement, former MP Ruwan Wijewardene claimed that the allocation for the Ministry of Health in 2021 was decreased by LKR 20 billion during a health crisis, compared to 2019. To check this claim, FactCheck consulted the budget estimates and p

To evaluate MP Premadasa’s claim, FactCheckreferred to data available in the weekly economic indicators of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

To assess this claim, FactCheck consulted the Ministry of Finance Annual Report for 2019, the latest full year for which actual data

In the second reading of the 2020 Appropriation Bill, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the budget deficit for 2019 increased to 9.6% of GDP. To evaluate this claim, FactCheck consulted annual reports from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

To assess this claim, FactCheck consulted performance reports from the Postal Department. Financial performance reports indicate that the postal department’s average income from 2016 to 2019 was LKR 7.42 billio

In his statement, former Prime Minister (PM) Ranil Wickremesinghe made two claims: (1) Government revenue fell by LKR 100 billion, to LKR 50 billion, in July 2020, and (2) the required expenditure for salaries and pensions significantly ex

To evaluate this statement, FactCheck referred to the 2019 annual report of the Sri Lanka Labour Force Surveys published by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). For purposes of this analysis we consider the districts falling into the

FactCheck assessed this claim by evaluating the language and scope of Article 154(1) under the current constitution, as provided through the 19th Amendment, and under the proposed 20th Amendment (20A). In the

To assess this claim, FactCheck consulted the Labour Force Survey for Sri Lanka’s statistics and used the International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database to compare Sri Lanka’s female labour force participation rate in 2019 with that of the r

This statement was made in the context of the constitutional changes in the proposed 20th Amendment (20A). In his statement, Minister Peiris justifies the need for presidential immunity as provided for in the 20th Amendment, by claiming: As long as t

To evaluate this claim, FactCheck consulted the latest available Labour Force Survey (LFS) statistics, which provides sector-wise estimates of employment.The average labour force engaged in agriculture, as their primary employment, was 2

Minister Peiris correct: Pre 19A the president had unbridled power to dissolve parliament.

This statement was made by Minister Sabry in explaining his opposition to the 19th Amendment (19A) to the Constitution. Through this statement he asserts that the constraints on the president to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP) from offic

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the former government forcibly enacted the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Act. In his statement, the prime minister indicated that this forcible enactment in

The industries Ministers Media secretary has sent the following response to the FactCheck published on page 1 of Daily Mirror on August 27: The FactCheck featured in your newspaper had been compiled using a news report published in the Mawbima news

Minister Weerawansa here is possibly repeating a claim about trade data in June 2020 that has also been separately carried in the media. To evaluate this claim, FactCheck looked at Sri Lanka’s monthly and annual import and export data as reported b

Last month, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka entered into an agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank, New York (FED) under its temporary ‘FIMA Repo Facility’. MP Harsha de Silva describe

Former Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne transmits incorrect information on malaria incidence. To evaluate forme

To evaluate Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) W.D. Lakshman’s claim, FactCheck consulted the set of principles developed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)—an international organisation that serves and supports central

In the above statement, former MP Udaya Gammanpila claimed the UPFA government, which came in to power in 2005, reduced the debt burden of the country from 103% of GDP to 72% at the end of thei

On 24 June 2020, Divaina reported Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s above claim that his government succeeded in achieving effectively universal access to electricity (99.9% access). To evaluate this claim, FactCheck consulted data from the annual

FactCheck evaluated the former MP’s statement using data obtained from the Department of External Resources on foreign loan commitments to Sri Lanka. The analysis was limited—based on the availa