The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara asked what immediate relief the Ministry can provide to SMEs facing rising overheads, including electricity tariffs and taxes, despite higher turnover and weak consumer demand. He questioned the operation of SMILE credit lines, asking whether loans require a Minister’s letter and what support is actually available, including for businesses affected by Cyclone Diththa that received limited compensation despite major losses.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, thank you for the detailed answer. My first supplementary: beyond Ministry/IDB estates, many SMEs islandwide face stagnating output despite higher turnover due to increased overheads—electricity tariffs and taxes rising while consumer volumes do not. Countries like India and Bangladesh protect their SMEs. What immediate relief can your Ministry provide? Also, on SMILE credit lines, we hear loans are issued only with the Minister’s letter while some have received Rs. 1.5 million. What is the real position, and what relief is available, including for those affected by Cyclone Diththa, where losses of about Rs. 20 million were met only with Rs. 250,000 compensation?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 6 March 2026 ·No. 23376 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 March 2026. No. 23376. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/5088