MP De Silva correct on concerns of rising LKR debt

…the government made a hue and cry [those days] saying that the debt rose by Rs. 5,700 billion in five years, didn’t they? However, during their time, it has risen by [approximately] Rs. 1,000 billion in just four months… What this means is that the monthly increase in debt has risen by a factor of 2.5 as compared to the time of the previous government.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya Press Briefing | July 7, 2020

Posted on: 1 October, 2020

Fact Check

In his statement, MP Harsha De Silva compares the country’s monthly rate of debt increase during the first four months of 2020 against the 2015-2019 period.

To evaluate this claim, FactCheck referred to the Central Bank’s latest available monthly bulletin, for May 2020, and Central Bank’s 2019 Annual Report for historic data.

During the 5-year period between end December 2014 to end December 2019 total outstanding government debt increased by LKR 5,545 billion (Exhibit 1). This is proximate to, and even a little less than the LKR 5,700 billion claim referenced by the MP.

Within the first four months of 2020 total outstanding government debt increased by LKR 993 billion. This aligns with the LKR 1,000 billion claimed by the MP.

The main claim made by the MP is that the average debt per month, in the first four months of 2020, has increased by at least a factor of 2.5 when counted in LKR terms compared to the average debt per month, in the previous 5-year period. Average debt per month from 2015-2019 was LKR 92 billion, and average debt per month in the first four months of 2020 was LKR 248 billion. This is an increase by a factor of 2.69, which is even higher than the MP’s stated figure.

Therefore, we classify the MP’s statement as TRUE.

*FactCheck.lk’s verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, if new information becomes available, FactCheck.lk will revisit the assessment