The Hon. (Dr.) Najith Indika

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, thank you for the opportunity.

¶ 02 Today is Day 4 of the Second Reading debate of the 2026 Budget. Normally by now we would be having robust discussions on revenue measures, expenditures, and new proposals. Every Budget presents new policies and proposals and they should be debated. But the specialty of this Budget is the absence of such debate. Last time, even false debates were created—remember, after we came to power and presented the Budget in November, the Opposition argued that salaries would be cut in April compared to March. They argued that loudly, falsely. But salaries were not cut; they increased significantly. This time, for the first time, the Opposition did not even make such arguments. Instead, they talk about random things—laws, or some issue elsewhere—anything but the Budget. When they do speak on the Budget, they make general statements. That is what we have seen so far.

¶ 03 Typically, by the third or fourth day, the Opposition would have put forward arguments needing Government responses. But that has not happened. Therefore, I will focus on two concrete points and some false claims made by a few Members, including Hon. Dilith Jayaweera who spoke before me.

¶ 04 First, what is a Budget? It is not merely an income-expenditure balance. It sets the Government’s direction for the coming year—how we will work and which sectors get priority. A Budget signals the Government’s political and economic direction. In our Budget, too, we have clearly indicated our direction and priorities.

¶ 05 Regarding next year—whom we work for, where we give priority, and which direction we take the economy—these are being discussed in this debate. Although there has been little heavy criticism, some Members have made false claims. For example, Hon. Jayaweera said poverty has tripled. If you look at the figures, poverty in Sri Lanka over recent years has been measured relative to 2019, when it was 14.3 percent. By 2023 it rose to about 25 percent. Now it is around 22 percent. So it did not triple; it went beyond double by 2022–2023 and is now declining. Also, do not forget what happened after 2019. What political change happened then? After 2019, the party that some of those Members supported came to power. Remember the famous TV graphic with outstretched wings? Three years later, poverty became 25 percent. Now we are painstakingly reducing it. Please present the figures correctly.

¶ 06 Another claim was that 20 percent of capital allocations were left unspent. Typically, every year there is a percentage of capital allocation spent by year end; Sri Lanka’s median rate—…