The Hon. Nishantha Jayaweera
Nishantha Jayaweera outlined recent fiscal allocations for relief and economic support, including Rs. 67 billion for “Ditva” cyclone-affected persons in 2025, Rs. 500 billion in 2026, Rs. 100 billion in concessional credit for MSMEs, and Rs. 100 billion for sectoral relief linked to the Middle East war’s impact. He stated that the Ministry of Finance has met the conditions for the macro-linked bond and IMF targets, while maintaining coordination with the Central Bank, despite tax relief measures expected to reduce revenue by about Rs. 100 billion.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, as you know, by December 2025, Parliament allocated Rs. 67 billion to provide relief to those affected by the “Ditva” cyclone. Subsequently, Rs. 500 billion—about 1.5 percent of GDP—was allocated for 2026.
¶ 02 Further, regarding MSMEs, Rs. 100 billion in concessional credit schemes are currently operational and accessible.
¶ 03 Additionally, due to the Middle East war’s impact, the President came to Parliament and allocated Rs. 100 billion to provide sectoral relief—enhancing Aswasuma, support for fishers, fertilizer subsidies, etc.
¶ 04 On the macro-linked bond, all conditions have been met by the Ministry of Finance. For the first time in our history, we are achieving revenues exceeding expenditure not by keeping all old taxes intact but by giving certain reliefs where warranted, despite an estimated Rs. 100 billion reduction in tax revenue due to those reliefs. We have met IMF targets and thereby qualify for the next tranche. Coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank is being maintained. I conclude with that.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 9 June 2026 ·No. 23706 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Nishantha Jayaweera. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 June 2026. No. 23706. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/2811