Sri Lanka has a defence force equivalent to 3.47 per cent of its workforce. This figure is recorded at a lower level in the US. Accordingly, the defence sector of the US is 0.84 per cent of its workforce. In China, the figure is 0.33 per cent. In India, it is 0.58 per cent. In Indonesia, the figure is recorded as 0.49 per cent. In Australia, it is 0.44 per cent. In the South Asian region, Pakistan records the figure at 1.25 per cent. Thus, despite maintaining a large defence sector in relation to the workforce, it is the working people who also have to maintain it.

Usually, it is said that after any economic crisis, an output loss occurs in that particular country. A certain amount of time is needed to recover that loss and get back to normal. I believe that we will be able to reach that 2018 level next year or, at most, the following year.

Export earnings in December 2024 were USD 1,101 million. Import expenditure in that month was USD 1,924 million. This shows that by last December, the country was spending more on imports than it did in the pre-Covid era. The export-import gap in that month was USD 822 million. Opening the doors to automobile imports in such a situation is an undertaking that carries somewhat of a risk.

The inflow of remittances from foreign workers over the past two months is the highest recorded in the recent past. We have received [USD] 1,121 million in the past two months... […]

Usually, public debt is reduced during debt restructuring. In Sri Lanka, we are going to repay 14% more of the existing debts to the creditors.