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Wed, 22 Mar 2023 Today's Paper
16 Mar 2023 - 0 - 110
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 - 280
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 - 213
In his statement, the MP makes two related claims: (i) Economic a
23 Feb 2023 - 0 - 128
The state minister claims that fuel, medicine, and fertiliser are being imported without a shortage. To chec
17 Feb 2023 - 0 - 429
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 - 196
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 - 185
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 - 234
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 - 164
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 - 290
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 - 287
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 - 365
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 - 417
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 - 300
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 - 306
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 - 294
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 - 878
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 - 441
Tobacco and alcohol are currently charged an excise tax and value-added-tax (VAT) by the government. To check
13 Oct 2022 - 4 - 429
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 - 393
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 - 655
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
22 Sep 2022 - 3 - 900
To check the MP’s claims, FactCheck.lk consulted the press release issued by the IMF and the 2021 Annual Report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). The primary account balance is calculated as revenue minus expenditure
15 Sep 2022 - 0 - 570
The MP in his statement claims that government institutions have borrowed more than LKR 1 trillion by December 2021. FactCheck.lk interprets the MP as referring to State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), where the loan book liability is not reflected in the central government accounts.
08 Sep 2022 - 1 - 575
The minister made this statement in the context of justifying the upward revision of railway fares. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the approved Budget Estimates for 2022 and the Annual Report 2021, published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF). As per th
02 Sep 2022 - 5 - 1319
The current president made this claim while he was the Prime Minister. To evaluate the claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the Sri Lankan Airlines (SLA) Annual Reports from 2007 to 2021. Each annual report gives the profits and losses for a financial year, which runs from April to March.
26 Aug 2022 - 0 - 414
The MP in his statement claims that in April 2022 food inflation is 46.6% and in the month of May 2022 it has increased to 57%, which is an increase of more than 10% in just one month alone. To che
12 Aug 2022 - 2 - 784
In his maiden televised address to the nation as prime minister on May 16, 2022, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the prime minister at the time, presented the previously approved budget estimates and the revisions it required.
28 Jul 2022 - 0 - 768
FactCheck.lk interpreted “loans taken” as referring to net additions to the loan book of the government. The net addition is calculated as loans taken minus the capital repayment on existing loans. Therefore, we interpret the “settling loans” to refer to settling the interest payment on the previous loans.
21 Jul 2022 - 3 - 1059
Former President Sirisena made this statement in connection with the events of July 9, 2022. He appears to be making three distinct claims about the current crisis: (1) that former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation occurring due to the intensity of the protest was an unconstitutional event; (2) that elected leaders no longer have the power
07 Jul 2022 - 2 - 1616
In his statement, the MP claims that Sri Lanka’s assets are USD 400 billion, and commitments are USD 47 billion, therefore Sri Lanka is not bankrupt, but instead does not have the dollars to meet its day-to-day expenses. In th
22 Mar 2023
