The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Minister, what are you saying? I asked a simple question: what GDP growth are you expecting for this year? Instead, you spoke about market-sensitive information. That very information is on the Internet; we downloaded it from the Opposition Leader’s office—released at 12.00 noon. Now, it is 4.00 p.m. If you expect at least Rs. 33 trillion nominal GDP, then in USD terms the economy will exceed USD 100 billion next year. In that case, the 27 per cent haircut will not materialize; it will be closer to 15 per cent. That is why 100 per cent are jumping in—they like it because from 2028, compared to today’s terms, they will claw back about half of the haircut. They will be exuberant, not us.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I accept one thing the Acting Finance Minister said: that they were pragmatic, recognized reality, saw the realistic picture, and therefore did not change it. He said they discussed with the IMF for a year. We know; we also met them. We knew the DSA could not be changed. We recognized reality. But you told the people you would change it. We said we cannot. That is the difference. Still, if your Walt Disney movie now delivers results, fine. But you misled the people saying for 75 years others did not do this.

¶ 03 On behalf of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, I table a proposal to be taken up after it goes through the Committee on Public Finance. It is titled:

¶ 04 “A PROPOSAL TO ADD A STATE CONTINGENT INSTRUMENT TO THE RS. 2,667,512,169,237 TREASURY BONDS ALREADY EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA AND THE EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND IN OR AROUND SEPTEMBER 2023 VIA THE DOMESTIC DEBT OPTIMIZATION PROGRAMME.”

¶ 05 The Leader of the Opposition called it DDO. He said the entire domestic restructuring burden was placed on working people. There are 2.7 million active EPF accounts; total accounts are 21 million. The DDO fixed EPF coupons at 12 per cent in 2023-2025 and then at 9 per cent from 2027 to 2038. Later, you agreed that if the economy performs better than expected, external creditors will claw back their relief. Therefore, we propose that working people’s EPF also be given a similar state-contingent instrument or clawback, without disturbing DSA parameters. You justified the unjust treatment of EPF in the DDO. We propose to amend it accordingly.

¶ 06 Hon. Presiding Member, how much time do I have left?