10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

7 February 2025 ·Oral question: Oral Answers to Questions and Second Round Questions

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The Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning stated that the spread between lending and deposit interest rates is expected to narrow further as economic stabilization under the current administration continues. He noted that the figures cited were largely historical, with 2024 data provisional, and said the Government aims to encourage savings by maximizing deposit rates while reducing lending rates through the National Savings Bank.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 That is what I clarified. The spread—the difference between lending and deposit rates—will be reduced further going forward. Note, the figures reported are largely historical; the 2024 figure I gave is provisional. The current administration has stabilized the economy and interest rates have come down; those improvements are not fully reflected in past-year data. Our approach is to maximize deposit rates to encourage savings and reduce lending rates through NSB.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Friday, 7 February 2025 ·No. 1739786070060795 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 February 2025. No. 1739786070060795. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/23043