The Hon. (Mrs.) Geetha Herath, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the 2024 Mid-Year Fiscal Position Report. I also wish all in this Parliament, the staff, and all Sri Lankans a Happy New Year.

¶ 02 Under Section 50 of the State Finance Management Act, No. 44 of 2024, the Minister of Finance must present the mid-year fiscal report to the public within the specified timeframe and table it in Parliament, assessing performance against the Government’s fiscal strategy statement.

¶ 03 The report has four chapters: Chapter 1 provides background and the macroeconomic context; Chapter 2 covers revenue, expenditure, Treasury cash flow and debt management; Chapter 3 sets out performance of ten major state enterprises such as Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, National Savings Bank, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, and CEB; Chapter 4 outlines foreign financing agreements and external debt in the first half of 2024. It shows a slight increase in overall revenue from taxes and non-tax income. But we must ask whether the people have truly experienced stabilization.

¶ 04 The previous Government placed heavy tax burdens on ordinary people in the name of stabilization. In reality, there is no broad-based stabilization as presented in the report because revenue gains were achieved mainly by increasing tax collections that directly affect people’s daily lives — workers, paddy farmers, tea pluckers — the ordinary folk who live hand to mouth.

¶ 05 Over 50 per cent of our population are women, many managing households and childcare. Higher taxes and prices hit them hard; some had to cut down to two meals, sacrificing for their children. Burdening ordinary people in this way is how the previous Government sought “stabilization.”

¶ 06 In the past two and a half years, Sri Lanka became known as a bankrupt country. While COVID affected many nations, others navigated the crisis better. Our uniqueness was massive corruption, waste, fraud and financial irregularities by past political authorities, which worsened the crisis and pushed us into default. Poor policy choices have made it difficult to restore stability quickly.

¶ 07 However, under the National People’s Power Government, even in this short period, we have progressed more successfully towards stabilization. Though constrained within the IMF framework and with heavy external debt, the people gave the NPP a strong mandate in two elections, wanting a break from past policies of corruption and misrule — something some in the Opposition still fail to grasp.

¶ 08 We are acting with discipline. Although revenues came in, expenditures in the first half of 2024 were not well managed, as the report indicates. Now, as Government, we are managing expenditures properly. We are committed and responsible during this period of public hardship.

¶ 09 For sustainable development, we will align the appropriations and the upcoming Budget accordingly. Notably, we have raised the tax-free threshold from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 150,000. Under Aswasuma, we have expanded benefits. Tourist arrivals are increasing; foreign investors are returning; remittances are rising; and we have moved up to the “stable” level in international ratings — evidence that we are moving towards stabilization.

¶ 10 With the people’s mandate, the Clean Sri Lanka and Nation-Building programmes will take us forward. Our duty is to create an environment for all our people to live better. On January 1st, our President briefed the nation on Clean Sri Lanka. I invite the Opposition and all citizens to join in rebuilding. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.