Last Updated : 2024-04-26 18:26:00
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Fri, 26 Apr 2024 Today's Paper
08 Jun 2023 - 0 - 299
In his statement, the minister claims that the government has not adhered to the limits prescribed by the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act (FMRA). To substantiate this claim, the minister states li
25 May 2023 - 1 - 933
The MP in his statement makes two claims: (1) the majority of domestic bonds is in treasury bonds, which amounts to approximately LKR 9 trillion and (2) of the total treasury bonds, 45% is in banks and 43% was borrowed from the EPF and ETF. To evaluate these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted the Central Bank (CBSL) Annual Report 2022 for data on domestic debt as of 31 December 202
18 May 2023 - 0 - 886
The information presented by the president is most easily interpreted as Sri Lanka pursuing a USD 17 billion reduction on the total stock of debt. However, it does not preclude another interpretation: a reduction in the flow of debt
11 May 2023 - 0 - 581
The minister in his tweet claims a rise in worker remittances by Sri Lankan migrant workers in 2023 compared to 2022. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted data on the flow of foreign remittances published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). In public finance
04 May 2023 - 6 - 831
In his statement, the MP claims that the government’s economic strategy in line with IMF guidance is not effective because total export income has decreased by 10% this year compared to last year. The MP
27 Apr 2023 - 0 - 961
Commenting on the question of inflationary pressure created in Sri Lanka due to increased money printing, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) claims that the money printing has reduced in 2022 compared to 2021. The gov
20 Apr 2023 - 1 - 469
In his statement, the minister makes two claims. (1) The current IMF programme required Sri Lanka to complete programme actions before receiving IMF funding, while in the previous programmes the actions were completed after receiving the funding, and (2) Sri Lanka was exceptionally fast in formalising an IMF agreement [after the staff level agreement], having done so within 7 mo
06 Apr 2023 - 0 - 584
This fact check is based on the minister’s recent tweet on the fuel price formula cost breakdown for a litre of petrol, diesel, and kerosene. The breakdown of the cost is meant to justify the price charged by the CPC for the following month. In his tweet, the minister claims the profit to the CPC is low with an unaccountable version of the fuel price formula. To chec
30 Mar 2023 - 0 - 871
To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted documentation published by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), including correspondence between the Ceylon electricity Board (C
16 Mar 2023 - 0 - 568
The state minister claims that an extremely small portion of the labour force are eligible to be subject to Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. Since he made this claim in parliament, the statement has been cited and reported widely by high level decision makers and the media.
09 Mar 2023 - 1 - 757
The president claims that there were 1.5 million income tax files by the end of 2019 and that the income tax files dropped to 400,000 by the end of 2021. The president makes these claims in the context of attributing the reduction in tax files from 2019 to 2021 to the tax revisions made in 2020. To evaluate
02 Mar 2023 - 0 - 427
In his statement, the MP makes two related claims: (i) Economic a
23 Feb 2023 - 0 - 258
The state minister claims that fuel, medicine, and fertiliser are being imported without a shortage. To chec
17 Feb 2023 - 0 - 562
The president while delivering the government’s policy statement, claims that the share of direct taxes collected in Sri Lanka is lower compared to many Asian countries and suggests that increasing the share of direct taxes would reduce the tax burden (indirect taxes) on the “general public” (interpreted here as “wider lower-income population”). To check
11 Feb 2023 - 0 - 340
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror, the MP cites the reduction in the monthly fuel bill as an example of why Sri Lanka’s current economic “normalcy” is on an “uneasy equilibrium”. In his example, he says that the country is saving around USD 350 million a month by cutting down the fuel bill from around USD 550 million to USD 200 m
02 Feb 2023 - 0 - 282
The state minister made this statement in the context of explaining the details of an affidavit filed at the Supreme Court on January 18 by the Secretary to the Treasury. The affidavit is reported to state that the Treasury is finding it challenging to secure funds for an election as it is operating under the prevailing economic crisis. The statements of the state minister provide numbers ind
26 Jan 2023 - 1 - 368
FactCheck.lk interprets the minister as claiming that the shortfall between the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) revenue and cost will amount to approximately LKR 489 billion for 2023, despite the increase in electricity tariffs in August 2022. To evalu
20 Jan 2023 - 0 - 290
The MP makes two claims: (1) The 2023 budget estimate has a revenue increase of 70 % from 2022, while the increases have never been over 20% in the past. (2) This revenue estimate at over LKR 3,000 billion is the highest in Sri Lankan history, and that it has never been more than LKR 2,000 billion in the past. Through these claims, the MP is arguing that the revenue target for 2023 is unprecedented and unrealistic in terms of the percentage incre
12 Jan 2023 - 0 - 412
The MP in his statement effectively makes two claims on the gap between the estate sector and the rest of the country: (1) that poverty is almost double, and (2) that food insecurity in the estate
15 Dec 2022 - 0 - 417
The minister refers to a ranking index on air quality to claim that Sri Lanka has significantly improved its air quality standing in Asia and in the world between 2018 and the present. To verify the
08 Dec 2022 - 1 - 470
The statement attributed to the state minister (i) cites the tax revenue collected by the IRD (by end September) as 68.4% of the LKR 915 billion target (LKR 625.9 billion) [in the 2022 budget], and (ii) ci
01 Dec 2022 - 1 - 583
In his statement, the MP claims that the hill country region, noting Nuwara Eliya specifically, has a higher prevalence of malnutrition than Sri Lanka in general. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted data from the Family Health Bureau and the Ministry of Health Annual Health Bulletin from 2019.
24 Nov 2022 - 0 - 387
The MP in his statement provides figures to establish that malnutrition in Sri Lanka has been decreasing since 2009. Malnutrition i
16 Nov 2022 - 1 - 407
Central govt. spending on defence and highways have been significantly higher relative to spending on health and education. Therefore, low spending on health and education reflects a policy of lower relative priority and cannot be only attributable to low revenue.
11 Nov 2022 - 0 - 384
The MP makes two claims about the losses of 52 strategically important SOEs (as classified by the Ministry of Finance): (1) LKR 286 billion in 2021, (2) LKR 966 billion by the second quarter of 2022
27 Oct 2022 - 2 - 966
In his statement, the president makes two claims—(i) the government owns approximately 80% of all land, and (ii) the government is able to allocate land for investment purposes. To check these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted reports from the World Bank (WB) and the UN-REDD programme.
20 Oct 2022 - 1 - 626
Tobacco and alcohol are currently charged an excise tax and value-added-tax (VAT) by the government. To check
13 Oct 2022 - 4 - 519
FactCheck.lk interpreted the MP as making three claims, that in the year 2021, (1) there were 507,000 registered taxpayers
06 Oct 2022 - 5 - 514
The minister in his statement claims that most of the government’s tax revenue is being spent on state sector salaries and pensions and only a fraction of it is left for other initiatives. To chec
30 Sep 2022 - 2 - 759
The governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CSBL) is reported as claiming that: (1) Sri Lanka’s export earnings as a percentage of Gross National Product (GNP) by 2001 stood at around 33%, and (2) it has dropped to below 15%, since 2001. To evaluate this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted annual reports and export statistics of the CBSL. FactCheck.lk assumed that, despite the phrasing in the article, the governor was referring to export earnings as
26 Apr 2024