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

The Hon. Kabir Hashim

Samagi Jana Balawegaya· Kegalle· 8 January 2025 ·Debate: Debate: Orders and Regulations (continued)

Public Finance
AI summary generated by gpt-5.5

Kabir Hashim responded to claims about International Sovereign Bonds by citing debt figures across successive governments. He argued that Sri Lanka’s debt rose sharply under the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government, increasing from Rs. 1,996 billion in 2004 to Rs. 9,953 billion in 2014, including an 83% rise between 2009 and 2014, before his side came to power in 2015.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 You said ISBs were taken during our time and asked whether I even knew that. Let me answer. From 1948 to 2004—most of which was governed by the side I represent—the total debt taken was Rs. 1,996 billion. From 2004 to 2014—please listen—under the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government you appointed, that debt rose to Rs. 9,953 billion, a 500% increase. In 2009 the debt was Rs. 5,983 billion; by 2014 it rose to Rs. 9,953 billion, an 83% increase. We came to power in 2015.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Wednesday, 8 January 2025 ·No. 1737023464031571 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Permalink
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Cite as: The Hon. Kabir Hashim. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 January 2025. No. 1737023464031571. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/27626