Gotabaya Rajapaksa overstates land released under MR government

In his statement, SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa claims that the Mahinda Rajapaksa government released 90% of military occupied land, after the end of the war. To verify this claim, we consulted data published by the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), as well as consulting the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to confirm the numbers provided.

Minister Abeysinghe claims a healthy increase in health budgets

In the above statement, State Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation provides statistics to claim that there has been a large increase in the present government’s budget commitment to free healthcare, and that it is as a significant proportion of state revenue.

Minister Bathiudeen: satisfactory on export statistics

Minister Bathiudeen claims creditable export performance by citing USD 1.3 billion in export revenue from three sub-sectors. We checked this claim using data available from the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB). Even though export statistics are available for up to 2018, the latest data available for all of the three sub-sectors quoted by the minister is for 2016 — for later years there is no revenue data available for “printing and packag

Minister Sajith Premadasa cites outdated statistics on income disparity

Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs Sajith Premadasa’s statement suggests that the gap in income share between the richest and poorest quintiles in the country is 50% of total household income.

MP Gunawardana raises false alarm on borrowing limits

In the above statement the MP claims that by passing the Active Liability Management Act the government can: 01.Obtain foreign loans without any annual limit. 02.Borrow any amount outside [the provisions of] the budget.

MP Namal Rajapaksa incorrectly uses incorrect data on education

On 11 July 2019, Mawbima reported MP Rajapaksa making the above statement which claims with specific numbers that starting with 560,000 candidates sitting the G.C.E. (O.L) exam, only 28,000 (that is about 5%) succeed in gaining university entrance.

Senathirajah right on share military occupied lands released, but not just in the Northern Province

We consulted two sources to verify this claim. (1) The Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), and (2) Sixth periodic report submitted by Sri Lanka to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Prime Minister on Rajapaksa-era exports: right on decline, not on details

In the above statement, the prime minister is making a negative attribution to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency by citing a fall in export share of GDP by 12 percentage points, from 30% to 18%.

Minister Eran Wickramaratne right on govt. borrowing, for two years, not four

On 19 June 2019, the Daily FT newspaper quoted the state minister of finance making the above statement in Parliament. Since the statement does not specify a time period for this claim, FactCheck evaluated it for each year since the change in government in January 2015. The claim can be assessed b

Sisira Jayakody: Invents claim on dual citizenship of MPs

FactCheck investigated the MP’s claim in three ways: through (1) information in the public domain; (2) directly requesting MP Jayakody for his source of information; and (3) publicly inviting verification of this claim on

President shines light on CEB and CPC losses

On 4 June 2019, Divaina reported President Maithripala Sirisena making the following claim: The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) incur losses in the tens of millions [of rupees] per day.

Minister Bandara right on number of deaths due to drowning

On 15 May 2019, Dinamina reported Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara making the following statement: Deaths reported as being due to drowning are about 800 annually.

MP Herath misrepresents total interest payments

On 28 May 2019, Divaina reported that MP Vijitha Herath made the following claim:

Minister Eran Wickramaratne correct on tourism earnings

On 22 May 2019, Dinamina reported State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne making the following statement. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector accounts for 5% of gr

Udaya Gammanpila: right on imprisonment, not quite right on costs

On 02 April 2019, Lankadeepa reported that MP Udaya Gammanpila made the following claims in parliament:

Minister of finance mostly correct on macroeconomic indicators

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera made the following claims: Foreign reserves were $7.6 billion, equal to four months of imports;

President overstates share of women in the public sector

On 28 March 2019, Dinamina reported President Maithripala Sirisena making the following:

Minister of health repeats misconception on Sri Lanka’s health service standings

On 04 February 2019, Mawbima quoted the following statement made by Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senaratne: “Within the world healthcare system, the fact that the best health service is provided by Cuba and Sri Lanka has been accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO).” To check this claim, we consulted the WHO’s Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report. This report provides an index

Minister Thalatha Athukorale: wrong on prison population, right on prison sentences

On 10 April 2019, Dinamina reported that Minister of Justice and Prison Reforms Thalatha Athukorale made the following statement: There are close to 22,000 inmates in prisons. Of them, a large number are serving sentences that are less than two years.

Minister of tourism development right on tourism developments

On 27 March 2019, the Daily News reported Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga making the following claims:

MP Mahinda Rajapaksa: Twice ‘FALSE’ on GDP growth

In the nine years I was in power, I increased the GDP per capita of this country by a multiple of three. In that period, the economic growth rate was 7.4%.

President overstates undernourishment

Anura Priyadarshana Yapa: Not quite correct on mobile phone taxes

On 26 October 2018, the Divaina reported MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa making the following claim.When a mobile phone user in our country pays Rs. 5,000 [as the mobile phone bill], Rs. 1,600 of it goes towards paying taxes.

Sunil Handunnetti: Quoted correctly, Interpreted wrong

Anura Kumara Dissanayake: false data and flawed claims

500,000 jobs in the last three years - Minister Fernando is correct; the economy has added

The data proves him wrong - Rs.18 billion tax loss due to reduced cigarette sales

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Year Review 2018

A resilient rice that withstands saline soil University of Wayamba goes a step forward with DNA tec