The Hon. Shantha Pathma Kumara Subasingha

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, at this moment of the Adjournment Debate, I must recall the state of the country when we assumed office, especially the economy. As everyone knows, the country faced the worst economic crisis in our history. People could not afford three meals a day. There were long queues for gas and fuel. Gas cylinders exploded killing people; some died standing in fuel queues. It was in the aftermath of that calamity that we formed a government.

¶ 02 The economic foundation was shattered across every sector—external, export, and tourism. When we took office, the then Central Bank Governor, Dr. Nandalal, announced on 12 April 2022 that we could no longer service foreign debt, and debt payments were halted from that date. However, I am pleased to say that in our first year in office, in 2025, for the first time in history, we settled the highest amount of foreign debt—over USD 5.5 billion. Even that single fact is sufficient to speak to the success of our economic management.

¶ 03 Despite many predictions by others that we would fall within months or after two Poya days or by April, the people trusted us to deliver political change and manage the economy. A large number voted for us, and since 2024 we have been moving forward. What are the results?

¶ 04 Across external, export, and tourism sectors, growth is recorded—some for the first time in history. GDP is growing, with economic growth maintained above 5 percent. Unlike in some past governments where growth was driven primarily by services, under the National People’s Power government in 2025, all sectors are growing. Agriculture shows about 1.4 percent growth; industry records strong growth at around 7.8 percent; and services grow by about 3.3 percent. This reflects our President’s policy of a production-oriented economy, with industry leading the expansion in 2025.

¶ 05 For the first time in history, per capita GDP rose to USD 4,546 in 2024 and has surpassed USD 5,000 to reach about USD 5,003 in 2025.

¶ 06 Tourism, which collapsed during the crisis, rebounded with 2,005,000 arrivals in 2024 and approximately 2,306,000 in 2025—about 2.36 million—another sign of progress.

¶ 07 Worker remittances, which fell due to prior uncertainty, have increased to USD 6.6 billion in 2024 and USD 8.1 billion in 2025. Thus, across sectors, we see economic improvement.

¶ 08 When we assumed office, the Treasury had an overdraft exceeding Rs. 800 billion. Now, even Opposition MPs have admitted that the Treasury is overflowing by about Rs. 1.2 trillion. That is why, despite the massive “Ditva” cyclone disaster, we have managed without crisis. We increased fiscal space and allocated around Rs. 500 billion to help our people recover from the cyclone, with the President distributing relief under a “Relief Package” concept introduced by our government.

¶ 09 Globally, with the Middle East war, some countries closed universities and schools and asked public servants to work from home. Yet we have managed our economy without imposing such burdens on our people. There are no fuel or gas queues, and electricity is supplied uninterrupted. Some wished for power cuts, but we did not impose them.