Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, M.P.

New Democratic Front (NDF)· National List

Profession: Chartered Accountant

Roster profile ↗

Speeches 694 #4 of 225·#1 in party

Attendance 8/8 days present (of recorded)

Top topic Parliamentary Procedure 359 speeches

Last spoke 10 June 2026 in Debate

Activity by sitting

114 sittings · counts only, no scoring.

Topic focus

AI summary AI-assigned tags, 1–3 per speech. Counts only — not a score.

Speech history

694 speeches

8 July 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake rose on a point of Order. No substantive argument, proposal, or question was made in the provided excerpt. Debate: Imports and Exports (Control) Act - Salt Import Regulations (Gazette No. 2437/04) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
8 July 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake raised a point of order, but the provided excerpt contains no substantive content beyond the opening phrase. No specific issue, proposal, question, or procedural objection is identifiable from the text supplied. Leader of Opposition Question Period and Points of Order Parliamentary Procedure Read →
8 July 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake rose on a point of Order. No substantive argument, proposal, or question was recorded in the provided speech excerpt. Leader of Opposition Question Period and Points of Order Parliamentary Procedure Read →
8 July 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake argued that renewable energy tariffs, even with battery storage, are cheaper than oil-based power and LNG when capacity charges and fuel imports are considered. He criticized the discouragement of rooftop solar after the Panadura incident while emergency power purchase agreements continue, and said current tax relief for renewable investments is negligible against actual capital costs. He urged the Government to prioritize domestic renewable resources, provide adequate battery concessions, and explain why oil-based generation appears to be preferred over renewables. Leader of Opposition Question Period and Points of Order EnvironmentPublic Finance Read →
8 July 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake questioned the Government on the Ceylon Electricity Board’s reduction of feed-in tariff rates for solar and wind projects, arguing that the changes undermine investor confidence, bank financing, and Sri Lanka’s stated target of 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. He asked whether the tariff changes and Electricity Act amendments are consistent with that policy, what reasons justified the reductions, and whether stakeholders were consulted on project viability, lending risks, energy security, climate goals, and fuel import costs. He also urged the Government to consider a transparent and stable pricing formula and to restore tax concessions for lithium-ion batteries and other storage technologies, stating that current costs make renewable projects non-viable at the CEB’s rate. Leader of Opposition Question Period and Points of Order InfrastructureEnvironmentPublic Finance Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake welcomed the Government’s acknowledgement that all wage demands cannot be met through strikes, but urged stronger action to attract investment, including facilitating investors such as Sinopec and depoliticizing economic policy. He called for youth entrepreneurship, SME-led rice production to reduce imports, and productivity improvements in agriculture, citing lower paddy yields than regional competitors. Referring to IMF comments and the President’s statements on debt-servicing capacity by 2028, he argued that sustained reforms, fiscal discipline, better data, and accountable discretion for officials are necessary to make the current IMF programme Sri Lanka’s last. Debate: Motion to Adjourn on Fiscal Strategy Statement 2026 AgriculturePublic FinanceEmployment Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake informed the House that he would also be using nine minutes of speaking time allocated by Hon. Nalin Bandara Jayamaha. Debate: Motion to Adjourn on Fiscal Strategy Statement 2026 Parliamentary Procedure Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake welcomed the Fiscal Strategy Statement 2026 as a basis for medium-term planning but urged both Government and Opposition to use data and pursue continuity in economic policy, citing malnutrition, rising welfare dependency, household costs, and increased public debt. He argued that growth should focus on enterprises, especially SMEs, and proposed a one to one-and-a-half-year moratorium and a Private Members’ Bill to provide extraordinary relief and alternative repayment arrangements for vulnerable borrowers affected during 2020-2024. He called for a stronger restructuring model for SriLankan Airlines, protection for exporters and deemed exporters if SVAT is withdrawn, targeted SME lending at 8-10 per cent, and greater accountability of the Central Bank while preserving its independence. Debate: Motion to Adjourn on Fiscal Strategy Statement 2026 EmploymentCost of LivingPublic Finance Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake noted that his allotted speaking time appeared to have been reduced from 20 minutes to 16 minutes and requested the Deputy Chairperson of Committees to allow him the full 20 minutes. Debate: Motion to Adjourn on Fiscal Strategy Statement 2026 Parliamentary Procedure Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake requested the Deputy Speaker to ensure that, for the first debate under the relevant Act, the required policy statement is presented properly with all necessary components. Procedural: Points of Order and Debate Preparation on Fiscal Strategy Statement Parliamentary Procedure Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake emphasized that the debate should be grounded in the Act’s statutory four-year target. He argued that discussing the matter without reference to that specific legal requirement would be of little practical value. Procedural: Points of Order and Debate Preparation on Fiscal Strategy Statement Parliamentary Procedure Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake raised a point of order under Standing Order 26(3) regarding compliance with Section 11 of the Public Financial Management Act. He argued that the Fiscal Strategy Statement placed before Parliament lacked key required elements, particularly a clear timeframe for reducing public debt to a sustainable level, as well as fuller details on fiscal targets, responsible fiscal management, and macroeconomic impacts. Procedural: Points of Order and Debate Preparation on Fiscal Strategy Statement Public FinanceParliamentary Procedure Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake referred to the Prime Minister’s statement and reports concerning the Central Bank, comparing its status with the independence demonstrated by the US Federal Reserve Chairman’s appearance before Congress. He asked the Government to consider bringing the Central Bank within Sri Lanka’s framework of independent institutions, noting that it is not currently among the eleven such bodies. Procedural: Points of Order and Debate Preparation on Fiscal Strategy Statement Public FinanceCorruption & Governance Reform Read →
30 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake rose to raise a point of order before the Deputy Speaker. No substantive issue, proposal, or question is included in the provided excerpt. Procedural: Points of Order and Debate Preparation on Fiscal Strategy Statement Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake argued that Sri Lanka’s economic strategy should focus on export-led growth, faster investment facilitation, and practical revenue reforms to reduce debt and raise incomes. He proposed improving valuation and taxation of long-term land leases to foreigners, saying this could raise significantly more revenue than the proposed stamp duty increase without burdening Sri Lankans. He also called for fairer treatment between public and private sector workers, including EPF returns, and suggested raising migrant worker wage benchmarks to increase remittances by about USD 1 billion annually. He urged the Government to cut red tape, speed up land allocation and approvals, and use investment incentives such as tax holidays and qualifying payments to generate future revenue. Debate: Stamp Duty (Special Provisions) Act Order and Imports and Exports (Control) Act Regulations Public FinanceEmploymentForeign Affairs Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake questioned whether the Deputy Minister would be able to execute the matters he had outlined, and sought clarification on whether this would be done from within his current position or outside it. Debate: Stamp Duty (Special Provisions) Act Order and Imports and Exports (Control) Act Regulations Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake declined to pursue the matter further and left the Question pending. He requested that the Hon. Prime Minister provide the answer. Question under Standing Order 27(2): Constitutional Commissions (Q.Unspecified/2024) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake asks the Speaker whether, in the Prime Minister’s absence, he may add an additional question to be answered together with the existing question, noting that time would otherwise be taken to provide the response. Question under Standing Order 27(2): Constitutional Commissions (Q.Unspecified/2024) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake raised a question under Standing Order 27(2) to the Prime Minister regarding the Constitutional Council’s role under Article 41B, as amended by the 21st and 22nd Amendments. He noted that the Council is responsible for recommending members to independent commissions that support integrity, transparency and accountability in public administration, and began listing ten such commissions, including the Election Commission, Public Service Commission and National Police Commission. Question under Standing Order 27(2): Constitutional Commissions (Q.Unspecified/2024) Corruption & Governance Reform Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Ravi Karunanayake argued that Sri Lanka’s high rice prices are driven not only by harvesting, selling, and milling issues, but also by comparatively low paddy yields. He noted that countries such as Cambodia and Thailand achieve around 7,000 kg per hectare while Sri Lanka obtains about 4,500 kg, and asked why farmers cannot be provided with higher-yielding seed paddy. Oral Question: Paddy Marketing Board - Purchase of Paddy (Q.310/2024) Agriculture Read →