The Hon. Thilina Samarakoon

¶ 01 Presiding Member, as someone taught by you at university, I am pleased to speak as a Government MP in the 2026 Budget Debate. This morning the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Namal Rajapaksa and several Opposition MPs presented views. My colleague addressed many of those points; I will add a few.

¶ 02 We are doing better than they expected. Under State-led macroeconomic management, key indicators are on track as we enter 2026: a stabilized rupee, rising exports, and achieving targeted tax revenue without rate hikes but by widening the base. Tourism has rebounded sharply; the stock market has strengthened; official reserves are near USD 7 billion—without vehicle imports it could have exceeded USD 8 billion. This is a historic Budget that covers all sectors.

¶ 03 The Opposition Leader queried inflation and what relief we delivered. Since we took office, petrol has been reduced by Rs. 38/litre and diesel by Rs. 30/litre; prices of eggs, chicken, and some rice varieties have been brought down. On that basis we present the 2026 Budget, targeting 4–5 percent growth, Government revenue over 15.4 percent of GDP, expenditure around 20.5 percent, and public investment around 4 percent of GDP—placing the economy on a sound base.

¶ 04 In education, we doubled the Mahapola university stipend from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000 within one year. We allocate Rs. 1.9 billion for facilities, including friendly classrooms, for estate-sector schools; Rs. 300 million to promote self-employment, vocational access and start-ups; and Rs. 260 million to establish a training centre for renewable energy. We allocate Rs. 11.5 billion to provide bicycles and stationery for students in difficult schools.

¶ 05 On public service pay and pensions: we established a Commission to resolve issues, and created a pathway for all those joined after 2016 to transition into a standard pensionable service. We will also correct anomalies of those retired before 2020.

¶ 06 An Opposition economist criticized the Rs. 500 million allocation for housing and property loans for public servants. That amount is for interest subsidies to enable concessional-rate loans by banks—the Government compensates banks periodically. With this, a significant number of public servants can access housing finance.

¶ 07 On estate workers’ wages discussed in the media: where companies add Rs. 200 to the daily wage, Government will also provide Rs. 200 as a coming allowance; and the attendance allowance of Rs. 200 will be paid for each day present, not only after 25 days.

¶ 08 On vehicles for Government use: a portion will be assigned to institutions and a portion temporarily used by about 150–160 MPs without transfer of ownership, to be returned at the end of the period. Let us verify vehicle shortages in field offices—veterinary, forest conservation, Divisional Secretariats—and address long-standing gaps. This Budget allocates funds not only for officials and citizens, but also to tackle issues like human-elephant conflict. I request all to support its implementation.

¶ 09 Thank you.