The Hon. Kabir Hashim

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, thank you for giving me this opportunity.

¶ 02 Hon. Harshana Rajakaruna is not in the House at this moment. However, there is something he should hear; I will say it later. Before this Government came to power, Members present here, including all members of the JVP, said on political platforms that they would bring back within months the stolen money, including what was in Uganda. The Members who said that are in this House. Next, they said exporters were hoarding hundreds of millions of dollars and that they would bring that back and settle the debt within a month. Then they said they would drive out the IMF and would not be subject to its conditions. They said there would be no debt restructuring and that they would not pay the debt — “Machan, we are not going to pay it,” they said, in those very words. They said it would all be done in a month. But now a year has passed.

¶ 03 State Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe spoke today. He is not in the House now. If he heard this, good. He said we are confusing the policy statement with the Budget speech. We are not confused; the Government is confused. The Government has no policy. There is a difference between what was said on platforms then and what is being said now. On behalf of the Government, Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe says we cannot do everything in one Budget; we need 20 years. My goodness! When Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke of 20 years, you yourselves shouted asking whether we could wait 20 years. According to the President’s own words, you said you would solve everything within six months of coming to power. But now a year has gone by. You do not know if you took the wrong road, you do not know which road you are on, and now you cannot even get 660,000. The people of this country did not vote for the JVP because of your economic prowess. They knew you did not have the competence to manage the economy. That is why you are going behind the IMF. If not, what are you doing? Who is managing the economy? Papageorgiou — the IMF chief — is managing this economy, not you.

¶ 04 It is a shameless act. This is an IMF-driven country now. People voted for you believing you would bring discipline, create an ethical society, social justice, uphold the law, the rule of law, and eliminate corruption.

¶ 05 Hasn’t even that been lost today? Look. Hon. Sunil Watagala, you talk about corruption and the CIABOC. First, I must say, there is a responsibility upon the Hon. Speaker. A decision was taken to appoint a Special Committee on the 320 containers. Why has that not yet been appointed? Why? What is the problem? What is being hidden? There is an issue there.

¶ 06 Next, you said you would bring a thousand cabs — even to be given to MPs. Back then you said on platforms that MPs should not enjoy privileges the public do not have, even that we should not eat here in Parliament. Today we are not eating; we did not eat then either. It is you who are eating now. What do you need cabs for now? Why the rush? The concern is why procurement procedures were violated. If done properly, a tender under procurement needs 49 days. You awarded it in 12 days. Is there not something fishy? There is a problem there. Now that issue is coming at you as well. You cannot manage the economy; you have no discipline; you are not delivering. It is all a fail. That is the reality.

¶ 07 Let me add one more point. Hon. Harshana Rajakaruna, can you tell such blatant lies? Fine, even if you lied before coming to power, at least stop lying now. You claim that when you took over, gas cylinders were exploding and there were queues for food. What queues were there? When you took over, foreign reserves were USD 6.2 billion. The rupee had strengthened; by November 2024 this country had returned to a development path. That is the country you took over — a bankrupt country brought back and handed to you for nothing, purely as a service. That is what Hon. Harsha de Silva said. You did not build anything. Yet, in such a country, five Government MPs including Hon. Harshana Rajakaruna went to the UK last month and last week. How did you go? On SriLankan Airlines. Yesterday the President lamented that SriLankan’s losses have significantly increased, and no one wants to take it over — what are we to do? But what are you doing? You buy an economy-class ticket and upgrade to business class. What a shameless act! You who said you would travel by bus — let me tell you, when I was the Minister in charge of SriLankan Airlines, I flew economy class, never once upgraded like this. Now what are you saying? You do such shameful things and then come here speaking like holy saints.

¶ 08 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, yesterday the President presented the 2026 Budget to this House. He spoke of the successful 2025 indicators and targets. As the main Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya will not hesitate to express satisfaction regarding increased exports, a current account surplus, a reduced Budget deficit, and increased tax revenue. We humbly thank you for achieving those macro indicators thanks to the conditions provided in 2024 and carrying them forward. But we wish to ask: who was burdened on the path to those targets? Which sections of society bore the greatest pressure? In 2024, Ranil Wickremesinghe too came to Parliament and stated these same targets. He had the opportunity to achieve them, and that is what you are carrying forward. But the SJB asked him these very questions then, and we ask President Anura Kumara Dissanayake now: were these targets achieved through a proportionate, equitable approach, or by imposing a disproportionate burden on one segment? That is the most important question.

¶ 09 In the 2025 Budget speech, the President said on page 4, “However, mere cash assistance is not a sustainable solution to eradicate the poverty that is spread in Sri Lanka.” Meaning, handouts are not enough. He added: “It is the duty of a humane government to protect citizens who cannot engage in productive economic activities due to various difficulties and challenges.” Then he said something crucial: “Economic growth should occur in a way that improves opportunities for all citizens to participate in the economic process and enables the results to be fairly obtained by every layer of society.” That is President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in the last Budget. He acknowledged the need for inclusive growth. But the 2025 Budget did not deliver that. We must affirm that. And in the 2026 Budget, inequality will further widen rather than narrow. Thus, you fail on both counts. Hon. Harsha de Silva showed that you have no coherent economic programme. You have also failed to deliver relief to the people. It is clear that the Budgets for 2025 and 2026 are not based on your own thinking and principles because you are now implementing the very policies you once claimed were harmful to the economy, a threat to national security, and damaging to sovereignty. Astonishingly, looking at your policies today reminds me of a basket of mixed leaves gathered from a backyard — no consistency, no plan.

¶ 10 Both Budgets confirm one thing: you acknowledge that the JVP comrades who sacrificed their lives in 1971 and the thousands who perished in 1988–89 were wrong in their revolutionary path, and that your attempts to dismantle progressive work done by every government in 76 years were wrong. You have fully failed. For 60 years you opposed the prevailing policies as wrong, but today President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has had the inner strength to accept that our policies were right, and we salute that. Ultimately, he has come to our line. So, what else have these Budgets done? You have no answers. In the 2025 overall Budget, the physical progress was 33%, financial progress 21%. You are great at talk, weak at delivery. In the 2026 Budget, there are 62 expenditure proposals; only 13 are direct development proposals; and only 28% of total state revenue is allocated to them. So despite the big picture, in truth nothing will happen. You could not even utilise the funds allocated last year. People in estates expect those funds; yet the allocations are insufficient even as Hon. Harsha de Silva showed.

¶ 11 Through your policies, you will increase income inequality and wealth disparities rather than compress them. On page 48, paragraph 35, the 2026 revenue proposals reduce the registration threshold for VAT and Social Security Contribution Levy from an annual turnover of Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million. This drags every business doing Rs. 100,000 a day into VAT — meaning an extra 18% VAT and 2.5% SSCL, a 20.5% tax increase straight away, plus surcharge taxes. The result: prices will rise. Who are these? Typical village or town retail shops; spice sellers; vegetable, meat, and fish shops; small workshops; small garment factories. The burden falls on them and then on consumers. This is per IMF orders. As I said, IMF is running this country, not this Government. Meanwhile, there are large corporations and powerful professionals — doctors, lawyers, tuition masters, and even politicians with multiple incomes who pay nothing. You had the chance to tax them; instead you expand the net over small people.

¶ 12 On SVAT, it provided relief via VAT refunds to domestic producers and exporters. The IMF demanded its removal; this hits SMEs and exporters. Tea smallholders’ green leaf price has already fallen by Rs. 100 due to the removal of SVAT, impacting the rural economy. You had no backbone to say SVAT cannot be removed overnight until an alternative is ready.

¶ 13 If you think a country can be lifted by taxation alone, it is a myth. Merely taxing for prosperity is like a man trapped in a bucket trying to lift the bucket by its own handle while inside it — 159 of you inside, along with the people, trying to lift the same bucket. It will not move. You need a development plan. Once you even urged people not to pay taxes; now you tax even the smallest man on the street. The nakedness of your policies is plain to see now.

¶ 14 Though the 2025 fiscal indicators look good, the problems are evident. 2026 will not be easier. We do not believe your claim of a stabilized economy. In 2019, when we handed over, poverty was reduced to 11%. By 2024 it increased to 24% (after peaking at 30% in 2022). In 2025, under your Government, it is stuck at 25%. If last Budget addressed poverty, it should have declined; it has not. Multidimensional poverty is 56%. Statistics alone cannot claim development.

¶ 15 In Latin America in the 1980s, Brazil was advanced but rising poverty and inequality caused collapse. Comparing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s programme with Ranil Wickremesinghe’s, I see Ranil walking on his own rope bridge, while Anura walks on the IMF’s rope bridge. There is no big difference.

¶ 16 For Jan–Sept 2025, merchandise exports are USD 10.2 billion; combined goods and services around USD 12 billion, but imports are USD 15.8 billion. You said you would grow domestic production; instead, imports have grown. The President said the import increase is temporary and for raw/intermediate goods — but oil prices have fallen this year; import bills should be lower, yet they are higher, including many non-essential consumer goods. LCs for vehicle imports up to September are USD 1.8 billion — mostly luxury vehicles. This glut will reduce your tax intake next year because you cannot sell more vehicles, and targets will change. There is no sustainable growth here.

¶ 17 Our current account surplus is USD 1.98 billion, but the trade deficit has widened by 23% to USD 5.7 billion; a massive trade gap. How then can we assume a good future and sustainable structural development?

¶ 18 The Government points to private sector credit growth as proof of economic growth. But between 2024 and 2025, gold-pawn loans increased by 73%, meaning people pawned jewellery to survive. That is not productive growth. Total bank credit expansion in 2025 is Rs. 1.6 trillion; of that, vehicle leasing is Rs. 1.1 trillion — 72% to vehicles, not to production, industry or investment. How then can you claim growth in production or SMEs?

¶ 19 This year, the Treasury had to pay USD 1.52 billion in debt service; USD 1,350 million in foreign debt. The Ministry of Finance had only USD 545 million; the rest had to come from the Central Bank’s reserves. If the Government had dollars, why could the Treasury not pay without drawing from reserves? You have cut capital expenditure, avoided capital projects, imported vehicles, raised revenue that way and show a surplus — but sustainable development that creates jobs, wealth, housing, and entitlements for the poor is absent. The JVP Government is implementing the IMF framework without changing a comma or a dot. We accepted using the IMF framework but decided to remove certain conditions; your Government accepted everything.

¶ 20 Fiscal reforms have placed a disproportionate burden on ordinary people. Globally, there is now a debate on debt relief for the Global South, including cutting interest on commercial and sovereign bonds. Yet upon taking office you agreed to pay every dollar without conditions. Yesterday, the President said you paid more foreign debt than in 2024; 159 of you applauded. You applaud paying more debt? You should reduce debt. The 159 here simply nod to everything without understanding. Even Ecuador argued with the IMF, audited the debt, reduced principal and interest. You had no courage to do so. People gave the JVP power not to follow the IMF blindly, but to change it — yet you could not.