Sunanda Madduma Bandara
Sunanda Bandara on automobile imports: Has sized up risk, with outsized claim on data
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.
Lankadeepa | February 5, 2025
Posted on: 16 May, 2025

Partly True
Sunanda Bandara bowls a wide on the widening trade deficit
[…] The gap between export earnings and import expenditure is gradually widening due to the country lifting all import bans except for vehicle imports in the recent past. […] The trade deficit of the first nine months of this year is USD 1,141 million more than last year’s.
| November 11, 2024
Posted on: 29 January, 2025

False
President’s advisor employs unemployment statistics incorrectly
The country's unemployment rate rose to 5.5% in 2020. It was the highest unemployment rate experienced by Sri Lanka since 2009. The government was able to bring that figure down to 4.7% by 2023.
Lankadeepa | May 8, 2024
Posted on: 1 June, 2024

Partly True
President’s advisor is not “real” on SL’s growth since 1959
Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP was USD 140 in 1959. Following the economic crisis, in 2020, it stood at USD 3,474. This also shows that there has been a massive change in the income level of the country as well as the income level of the people. […] Sri Lanka has been able to achieve a level of economic growth and development that surpasses all the countries in South Asia.
Lankadeepa | March 27, 2024
Posted on: 2 May, 2024

False
Presidential advisor fumbles stipulations on LG election delays
[…] all the local government elections held after 1991 have been postponed without being held within the stipulated time. […]
Lankadeepa | October 25, 2023
Posted on: 23 November, 2023

False