The Hon. Kabir Hashim

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

¶ 02 A social activist in Malaysia, Anchar Fazal, spoke of sins against humanity, adding four to Gandhi’s seven. The first sin both cited is politics without principle. Your Government is inflicting hardship through this very sin—now and before. In 1977, President J.R. Jayewardene introduced the open economy—first in Asia—amid ridicule. In the 1960s, about 95 percent of our merchandise exports were tea, rubber and coconut. Post-1977, with EPZs/FIZs, by the 1980s roughly 75 percent of merchandise exports transformed into industrial products. That was the real system change J.R. delivered.

¶ 03 When Toyota, Honda, Mazda looked to invest, the JVP and other leftists blocked them; that sabotage is among the curses of 74 years. Today, fate has you bringing a Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill. The emblematic leftist Lakmali Hemachandra is absent; Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe is present. In last week’s Committee on Public Finance, they raised both hands to approve this Bill—poetic justice.

¶ 04 Regulating gambling is necessary—there is widespread gambling—but this Bill is late and has serious flaws. Investor confidence will not be built by this Bill as drafted. A proper framework must: - Create a well-regulated legal industry - Minimize the shadow/black economy harm - Maximize state revenue through robust taxation - Protect consumers - Curb money laundering

¶ 05 Does this Bill achieve that? We have doubts.

¶ 06 Sri Lanka has an economic opportunity in the region, but I cannot support gambling personally. If the State proceeds, the regulator must be independent, transparent, empowered, and depoliticized. Otherwise, it is useless. We have mafias in rice, customs, electricity, smuggling, business, even salt. Will this Bill breed a gambling mafia? With few casinos, licensing can foster monopoly. Will this Authority truly clean it up? A system change should break mafias—does this Bill do that?

¶ 07 Key concerns and proposals: - Too much power to the Minister of Finance to appoint the Board members and the Director-General. This politicizes the regulator. Appointments should be via the Constitutional Council, or at least the Board should appoint the DG. - Rule-making power rests with the Minister; this should vest in the Authority to avoid ministerial capture. - Tourism is insufficiently integrated; include a tourism sector representative on the Authority. - Lotteries (NLB/DLB) should come under the Authority to ensure coherent regulation; lotteries are also gambling in effect. - Online gambling requires stronger powers and enforcement to prevent AML leakages and capture revenue; otherwise, this becomes a nominal law enabling politicization and corruption. - Strengthen powers for tax collection, penalties, revenue estimation, and ensuring maximum fiscal yield for the State.

¶ 08 On the State Debt Management Act (No. 33 of 2024) Regulations: We moved from the 2003 Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act, which was ignored, to the 2024 Act to manage debt properly. I ask the Deputy Minister: The President recently announced obtaining USD 500 million from China Exim Bank for the Central Expressway, plus USD 493 million from the Treasury—total USD 993 million. Has this been submitted to and approved by the Debt Management Coordinating Committee as required under the Act? Will this borrowing be added to total external public debt, and can its revenues service debt and interest? Please clarify.

¶ 09 Also, in H1 2025, we received about USD 335 million from the IMF. Disbursements from multilaterals (World Bank, ADB) are unusually low—around USD 95 million to date. On this trend, gross reserves are worsening compared to Oct/Nov 2024. Our foreign reserves are not growing; acknowledge the problem.

¶ 10 Data: - Gross reserves: USD 6,531 million (Mar 2025) down to USD 6,044 million (Jul 2025) - Net reserves: USD 2,799 million (Mar 2025) down to USD 2,210 million (Jun 2025) Despite tourism/exports/remittances improving, reserves have fallen. Net foreign assets have declined by June. These are red flags given upcoming payments.

¶ 11 I appreciate the Central Bank’s monetary policy discipline. But on the fiscal/external front, progress is insufficient. Without corrective action, by December you will face a crunch. Please answer these questions.