The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran

¶ 01 Blast fishing and dynamite fishing are destroying the marine resources of the North. Those who should prevent this—the Department of Fisheries and the Navy—are inactive. When we ask the Department, they say they are acting within their limited staffing and resources. We have already presented our requests to the Hon. Minister. I kindly ask that attention be paid to this matter and that appropriate measures be taken.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Rules under the Monetary Law Act and the Resolution under the Essential Public Services Act before us today reflect, in a way, the current economic crisis. Exporters are being compelled to bring foreign exchange earned abroad—such as US dollars—into Sri Lanka within a specified timeframe and convert it into rupees. These new Rules under the Central Bank Act tighten that requirement further.

¶ 03 On the one hand, this is presented as an effort to reduce foreign exchange leakages, increase US dollar supply, stabilize the rupee, and strengthen reserves. On the other hand, we must accept that it further constrains trade freedom in Sri Lanka. The new controls imposed by the Central Bank on repatriation and remittance of export proceeds back to exporting countries are not novel globally. But adopting such strict measures today puts Sri Lanka alongside a set of countries—Argentina, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Bangladesh—that have operated under severe trade-flow constraints.

¶ 04 While such measures are aimed at strengthening reserves in the present need, excessive control may undermine exporter confidence. Economically stronger countries do not squeeze their exporters; countries that stifle exporters do not achieve stable, sustained growth. Controls of this sort must be temporary, a stopgap in the absence of alternatives, so we can expand export flows in the future.

¶ 05 At the same time, domestically, we have mismanaged stocks. Over the last three seasons, 185,000 metric tons of paddy have been left to deteriorate. Yet we spend our scarce dollars to import Ponni and Bal Ponni rice. As at 2026.04.21, in the Northern Province, 10 warehouses held 5,729.072 MT of 2025 Maha paddy and 16,913.496 MT of 2025/2026 Yala paddy—about 32,000 MT in total—deteriorating. If those warehouses are not cleared within the next three months, the next harvest’s marketability will also be in question. While we fail to systematize domestic production, we tighten exporters and search for ways to hold on to foreign reserves.