The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Hon. Ravi Karunanayake questioned the allocation of Rs. 23.8 billion for SriLankan Airlines’ debts, noting that about half would go to People’s Bank, and asked whether such public funds could instead support low-interest lending to SMEs. Referring to the Committee on Public Finance and the Central Bank’s role in monetary policy, he asked what measures the Government could take to ensure low-cost credit for SMEs and entrepreneurs without spending on loss-making State-owned enterprises.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 My second supplementary is this. This morning the Hon. Prime Minister presented a Note on Supplementary Allocations. Rs. 23.8 billion is to be paid for SriLankan Airlines’ debts. Of that, about 50% goes to People’s Bank as its share. Instead of using public funds for loss-making SOEs, can we not use such money to lend at low rates to SMEs? You and I serve on the Committee on Public Finance. The Government cannot set monetary policy—that is Central Bank’s task. That is why I asked earlier: what decisions can the Government take to ensure low-cost credit to SMEs and entrepreneurs without these expenditures?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2025. No. 1739175806099814. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26776