Hon. Kabir Hashim
Hon. Kabir Hashim said the Bill under debate is important and timely, but raised concern that the Government’s promised amendments had not been clearly circulated or made readily available to Members. He placed the Bill in the historical context of Sri Lanka’s microfinance development, citing early credit co-operatives, post-1977 UNP support, President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s “Jana Saviya” programme, and the 1990 Integrated Rural Development Programme as key milestones in expanding access to finance for low-income groups and voluntary organisations.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, we debate an important and timely Bill today. However, although the Government said amendments would be presented, Members have not been clearly provided with them. I had to search for them; they should have been made prominent.
¶ 02 On history: Sri Lanka’s microfinance roots go back to credit co-operatives in the early 1900s. After 1977, the UNP Government significantly supported the sector. The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa launched “Jana Saviya” in the 1980s, underpinned by microfinance. In 1990, the Integrated Rural Development Programme expanded access to the low-income and to voluntary organisations.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 ·No. 23360 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/13458
Cite as: Hon. Kabir Hashim. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 March 2026. No. 23360. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/13458