The Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha
Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha clarified that the EPF consists of workers’ funds held under the Central Bank, with administration by the Department of Labour, and that integrating the two related databases must be done carefully to avoid harming the Fund. He said policy decisions would be reported to the House once finalized. He also rejected media speculation that EPF lump-sum withdrawals would end or be converted into an annuity, stating only that broader social protection options, including possible annuity choices requested by workers, were under discussion with no decision made.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I answered the asked Questions. Beyond that, let me clarify: this is workers’ money, presently under the Central Bank, while the Department of Labour handles administration. There are two databases; integration must be carefully handled. We should not rush; we will proceed correctly without harming the Fund. Once proper policy decisions are taken, we will inform the House.
¶ 02 Further, there was social speculation that EPF will be converted into an annuity and that lump-sum withdrawals will end, reported in the Daily Mirror. This is incorrect. We said we are discussing broader social protection, including requests from workers to consider annuity options. Such discussions exist, but no decision has been made to convert EPF into an annuity. That is a misunderstanding.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 9 January 2026 ·No. 23149 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 January 2026. No. 23149. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/1697