The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson. My time is short. I thank Hon. Harshana Rajakaruna for yielding some time.

¶ 02 When Hon. Anil Jayanta spoke of the “Prosperous Country – Beautiful Life” economic plan, he listed three points. First, he claimed inflation was brought down from 70% to near zero under this government. He knows well inflation was already at -0.5% when they took office; the heavy disinflation happened under the previous administration.

¶ 03 Second, they keep saying the economy was “broken.” A key reason it broke was their ideology prevented necessary structural reforms at that time.

¶ 04 Third, they claimed growth was expected at 3.5%, but could be 4.8%–4.9%. At our Public Finance Committee, Finance Ministry officials told us the projection is 3.1%. Even within government there is inconsistency. Nominal GDP has risen largely because of higher taxes—taxes add to gross value added under the methodology.

¶ 05 The Minister himself said customs revenue was expected at Rs. 450 billion this year, now at Rs. 470 billion. Fine. Stability is good—and was laid by the previous government, which they continue. But they don’t speak about household realities. CEPA’s Prof. H.M. Gunani Lak’s study (Dec 2024 survey) shows poverty between 45% and 52%. I table that document.

¶ 06 If stability is one side, poverty reduction is the other—what has the government done this year? The Minister said Aswesuma is merely a dole; then how do you reduce poverty? To move to high income by our centenary of independence, we need sustained 9% real growth annually. How? Private investment is essential; there is no fiscal space. World Bank officials told our committee the same.

¶ 07 Then why reverse the power sector reform that allowed private investment into generation, transmission, and distribution? Now they say keep 100% ownership with the CEB. If no private investment, why fight with CEB unions over an Act that you will not use? Sobhadanavi was touted at Rs. 20.11 per kWh, but when we asked, they said commissioning in 2028 would be about Rs. 72.13; with LNG it could be lower—but there’s no LNG plan. Nor for Sobhadanavi. Without private investment and with no state funds, how will you lower tariffs? With cost-reflectivity, costs must fall; on this path, they won’t.

¶ 08 On today’s Imports and Exports (Control) discussion: they are now trying to import rice. A tender notice from Lanka Sathosa calls for milling Paddy Marketing Board stocks into rice via competitive bidding. I table that document. The conditions—like a Rs. 4 million bid security—exclude most small and medium millers. To process all the paddy within two months, you’d need to mill 0.8 million kg per day—no facility can. Also, requiring only a 63% rice outturn (vs. the “Shakthi Rice” standard of 65%) means at Rs. 200/kg, the 2% difference yields Rs. 200 million to someone’s pocket. We should not import rice; we said we wouldn’t import a grain. Yet Keeri Samba is above Rs. 300/kg and now they talk of imports, while lowering milling standards to skim margins into private accounts.

¶ 09 Thank you.