MP Hashim spells out the increase of poverty in Sri Lanka
“…by 2019…the poverty line[sic] of this country was 11%…it has grown to 25% by 2023. I believe it is more than that. But the World Bank has calculated that it is only 25%, which means that out of 22 million in this country, 5.5 million are poor.”
YouTube Page of Parliament of Sri Lanka | May 12, 2023
Posted on: 29 June, 2023
True
MP Gammanpila right on the poor, wrong on the rich on electricity prices
From the very short period between last year's August and this year's March…the [electricity] bill increase [was]…1,138% for the poor man [a consumer who uses 30 units] and 160% for the rich man [a person using 180 units] …higher prices have been charged from the poor, and with the money obtained from the poor, the bills of the rich have been subsidised.
Official Facebook Page of Udaya Gammanpila | May 27, 2023
Posted on: 22 June, 2023
Partly True
State Minister Siyambalapitiya cherry picks to cheer fiscal stability
…we are coming step by step towards fiscal stability. Even the IMF calculated that for this first quarter, our primary account balance will be negative by Rs. 56 billion. But we have brought this quarter…to a positive Rs. 48 billion.
Parliament of Sri Lanka - Parliament Live - On-demand | May 25, 2023
Posted on: 15 June, 2023
Partly True
Minister Gunawardane exposes lack of compliance with fiscal management laws
…. the Fiscal Management Responsibility Act No. 3 of 2003…had three main goals…to maintain the budget gap below 5%..... reducing public debt as a percentage of GDP to 65% by 2013, that is, in 10 years…. reducing the amount that the government guarantees when borrowing to 4.5% of GDP…..today the budget gap is at levels such as 10%, 12%, and the amount of public debt has gone up to more than 125% of the GDP. The guarantee for public debt has gone up to 15%...
Official YouTube Page of the Department of Government Information | May 9, 2023
Posted on: 8 June, 2023
True
MP De Silva exposes EPF & ETF exposure to govt bonds
The majority of Sri Lanka’s domestic debt is in treasury bonds. We have [almost 9,000 billion] worth of treasury bonds….44.5% of that is in banks….43% was borrowed from EPF & ETF
Daily FT | April 20, 2023
Posted on: 25 May, 2023
True
President makes ambiguous claim on debt restructuring
Programme financing gaps: debt service reduction during 2023-27 should be sufficient to close external financing gaps. Under staff baseline scenario, US$17 billion in debt service reduction is required, including the arrears accumulated in 2022 So, we are trying to get a 17 billion debt reduction on that side. Do you want it or not.
Parliament Hansard | April 26, 2023
Posted on: 18 May, 2023
True
Minister Nanayakkara right on the rise in remittances
Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances increased to US$ 568.3 million in March 2023 from US$ 318.4 million in March 2022. This is a 78.5% (US$ 249.9 million) increase compared to the inflows recorded in March 2022.
Official twitter page of Manusha Nanayakkara | April 6, 2023
Posted on: 11 May, 2023
True
MP Weerawansa makes spurious case against the IMF
The total export income has reduced by almost 10% this year when compared to last year. This is a huge reduction. Therefore, it is clear that the economic strategy the government is following under the guidance of the IMF is not providing a remedy to bring this patient named “the economy” - who is in the ICU - out into at least a normal ward.
Official Facebook Page of Wimal Weerawansa | April 3, 2023
Posted on: 4 May, 2023
False
CBSL Governor corrects the record on “money printing”
The total base money printed in 2021 was Rs. 344 billion, whilst the net basis reserve money issued in 2022 was below Rs. 40 billion.
Daily FT | February 11, 2023
Posted on: 27 April, 2023
True
Minister Premajayantha inefficient in claiming efficiency of IMF process
On previous occasions, we obtained money from the IMF after pledging to fulfil their conditions...this time round, we had to first fulfil those conditions to obtain assistance. It was only Sri Lanka that was able to obtain that support [IMF assistance] in 7 months.
Parliament YouTube channel | March 21, 2023
Posted on: 20 April, 2023
Blatantly False