The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Hon. Ravi Karunanayake argued that SMEs and small manufacturers are under severe cash-flow pressure, citing tea auctions where buyers must finance an additional 18 per cent despite falling prices and refund delays of 75–106 days. He said these conditions make importing from countries such as India and China quicker and more attractive than local manufacturing in sectors including printing, rubber, textiles and ceramics. He asked the Deputy Minister to examine the issue, noting falling tea prices and a reported USD 450 million balance of payments deficit in September.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I appreciate the summarized answer, but this is not the real-life situation. SMEs are hit badly; at tea auctions they need an extra 18% to buy tea, while prices have fallen. It becomes easier to import and supply rather than manufacture inputs for big exporters, because practically one must wait 75–106 days, whereas importing from India/China takes about 35 days without cash being stuck for refunds. From experience in SMEs, textiles and tea auctions, prices have dropped by about Rs. 110. This cannot be addressed by textbook approaches. Please look into this, Hon. Deputy Minister. Small manufacturers in printing, rubber, textiles, ceramics now find it easier to import and trade than manufacture. For the first time, in September, there was a USD 450 million balance of payments deficit.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 11 November 2025 ·No. 22786 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/11902
Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 11 November 2025. No. 22786. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/11902