The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma
Responding on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the member provided figures for currency notes printed and coins minted by the Central Bank from 2015 to the 2024 Presidential Election, including annual totals and totals by the tenure of finance ministers and presidents. He stated that the highest total by ministerial tenure in the period was under Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, and that the totals by presidential tenure were Rs. 1,118.92 billion under Maithripala Sirisena, Rs. 688.85 billion under Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Rs. 442.35 billion under Ranil Wickremesinghe. He also clarified the distinction between physical minting of currency and broader “money printing” through expansion of the monetary base, noting that controlled money creation can accompany economic growth.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, I respond as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i)–(iii) Currency notes printed and coins minted by the CBSL from 2015 up to the 2024 Presidential Election date: - 2015: Rs. 280 billion - 2016: Rs. 170 billion - 2017: Rs. 201 billion - 2018: Rs. 161 billion (notes) - 2019: Rs. 217 billion (notes and coins) - 2020: Rs. 322 billion - 2021: Rs. 210 billion - 2023: Rs. 213 billion - 2024 (Jan. to Presidential Election date): Rs. 60.62 billion
¶ 03 By Ministers’ tenure totals (notes printed + coins minted): - Hon. Ravi Karunanayake: Rs. 646.178 billion (highest within the period) - Hon. Mangala Samaraweera: Rs. 472.75 billion - Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa (as Finance Minister): Rs. 487.35 billion - Hon. Basil Rajapaksa: Rs. 201.5 billion - Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe (as Finance Minister): Rs. 442.35 billion
¶ 04 By Presidents’ tenure totals: - H.E. Maithripala Sirisena: Rs. 1,118.92 billion - H.E. Gotabaya Rajapaksa: Rs. 688.85 billion - H.E. Ranil Wickremesinghe: Rs. 442.35 billion
¶ 05 (iv) Not applicable.
¶ 06 (v) “Minting” generally refers to physical creation of currency (notes and coins). “Printing money” more broadly means a central bank injecting new money into the economy, reflected in the expansion of the monetary base. As an economy grows, required money supply also rises; therefore, controlled money creation is consistent with growth.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 8 May 2025 ·No. 1748426168056758 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 May 2025. No. 1748426168056758. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/21766