The Hon. Nalin Bandara Jayamaha

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the second Budget of this Government.

¶ 02 It is nearly a year since your first Budget. A serious question remains: was it implemented? Many Members pointed out how little of the allocations were actually spent. We have governed too—we know that mid-year Supplementary Estimates are often brought to top up Heads. But your Government could not even spend what was allocated. In some cases, utilization was below 10 percent; some even near zero.

¶ 03 The President promised to develop Thambuttegama Economic Hub around the railway station. Has even one or two million of that allocation been spent? Thambuttegama is his own hometown. The data show non-utilization. This Budget mirrors the previous one—statistics without execution.

¶ 04 Fitch Ratings keeps us at CCC+. We looked to see if this Budget would lift us. They note the overall deficit rising from 4.5 percent of GDP in 2024 to 5.1 percent in 2025; primary surplus from 2.3 to 2.5—marginal changes. This is a conventional, number-heavy Budget.

¶ 05 An “anti-76-year-curse” Government has been in office for a year. What substantive reforms have you enacted—new economic frameworks, enabling laws? SMEs: you promised much. Now you propose to lower the VAT registration threshold to Rs. 30 million. That pulls even small shops doing over Rs. 1 lakh a day into VAT—ordinary corner shops in my Bingiriya seat: Bibiladiyaniya, Udubaddawa, Horathapola, Weerapokuna, Tharana. Many will be trapped. Supermarket chains will benefit while village shopkeepers suffer. This will force small businesses to hire extra staff, raise prices, and pass VAT to poor consumers.

¶ 06 Even Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Government targets SMEs with VAT. You also bragged the Treasury had a surplus. That uptick came from relaxing vehicle import restrictions—over USD 2 billion flowed out for vehicles, temporarily boosting revenue. That windfall will not recur in 2026.

¶ 07 We gave you time—did not take to the streets. Yet farmers are protesting; economic hubs are silent. No solution to fertilizer or paddy price issues; no plan to alleviate poverty. Someone claimed USD 5 billion FDI—there is not even USD 1 billion. These are false statistics. From our Research Office, we see a Government stuck in place.

¶ 08 You say 10,000 double cabs will be imported. But specialists, professors, and senior academics get no vehicles. Their only benefit was the vehicle permit—to keep them serving here rather than migrating. Now even that is gone. During the presidential campaign, you promised to restore permits to doctors, specialists, and engineers. A year later, the Finance Minister tells us not to expect permits. We do not need MP permits. But restore permits for specialists and executive-grade officers. Many permits are already issued and lying unused—let them import under those.

¶ 09 You promised to travel by bus, not take vehicles or permits. You now realize the workload of MPs. The President should fly by helicopter when needed—time is valuable. Use Business Class when appropriate; these are not burdens if used judiciously for official work.

¶ 10 I also invited their economic committee to a debate with ours before the presidential election—so the public could see who can truly rebuild the economy. They avoided it.

¶ 11 In 2018, I started the Bingiriya Export Processing Zone—1,000 acres—with support from then PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. In the past year you could not bring a single new investment there, though you talk of building 10 zones. Minister Nalinda Jayatissa visited; MP Basnayake knows the project’s scale. One of the top three investment projects in zones today—Synergy Pharmaceuticals, about USD 140 million—is in Bingiriya. We created the environment and attracted investment. Go see it. Your team has not brought even a dollar there.

¶ 12 This 2026 Budget is just statistics. The President’s four-and-a-half-hour speech had no substance—an unworkable document without hope.

¶ 13 Thank you.