The Hon. Rohana Bandara
Rohana Bandara raised concerns about farmers being forced into distress sales during harvest, noting that a World Bank-supported warehouse and pledge-lending initiative has helped in areas such as Embilipitiya. He said fuel shortages are limiting farmers’ ability to transport produce to warehouses, but argued the scheme could reduce losses by enabling up to 70 per cent pledge lending against produce. He asked whether the Ministry of Finance would continue supporting and expanding the programme and what further steps are planned.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Minister.
¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, this is a burning issue for our farming community. At harvest, farmers face “distress sales.” We initiated a solution with the World Bank, and it works well in Embilipitiya and other places, except in a couple of locations. However, now it faces practical problems: due to the fuel issue, farmers cannot transport produce to warehouses. Still, this initiative can stop distress sales if expanded. At harvest, farmers cannot even cover costs; the scheme allows up to 70% pledge lending, which eases the burden. Will the Ministry of Finance continue to support and expand this? What are the next steps?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 20 March 2026 ·No. 23396 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/8363
Cite as: The Hon. Rohana Bandara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 March 2026. No. 23396. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8363