Minister Gunawardana justifies transferring expressways to a state-owned investment company to operate them as a “commercial enterprise” by arguing that: (a) Sri Lanka has borrowed LKR 800 billion in foreign loans to construct these expressways,

MP Rajapaksa claims that during his tenure as president (2005-2014), there was an (1) unbroken nine-year economic boom, and (2) there was no difficulty in paying off debts.    To verify these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted data from the Central Ba

In parliament, MP Lakshman Kiriella claimed that (a) no country has taken as long as Sri Lanka (2.5 years) to complete the debt restructuring process, and (b) every country completed it within 1.5 years. To verify this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted t

In parliament, MP Rohana Bandara argued that the president’s futuristic claims were unrealistic and seemed to lack practical feasibility. Among his examples to further his argument, he stated that the government had failed to fulfill 94% of the bud

In a parliamentary speech, MP Ashok Abeysinghe claimed that 237,143 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) closed between 2020 and 2022 due to the economic crisis. This statement was made in the broader context of debates around micro, small, and medium

Addressing parliament, MP Hesha Withanage claimed that the losses accumulated by SriLankan Airlines (SLA) amounted to Rs. 609 billion, which in turn placed an average financial burden of Rs. 107,000 per family in the country. To check this claim, Fa

President’s Advisor Sunanda Madduma Bandara stated that Sri Lanka’s unemployment rate reduced from a high of 5.5% in 2020 (highest since 2009) to 4.7% in 2023—and attributed it to government policy success. To verify the claim, FactCheck.lk con

MP Ranawaka claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that Sri Lanka has borrowed more than it has repaid, citing USD 3 billion in new loans and USD 2 billion in repayments. FactCheck.lk understands his claim, as cited in his X thread, to refer to the period a

In his speech, MP Pasqual argues that only a small fraction (10%) of students have the opportunity to attend university and that everybody else, after completing school, is “left to drift aimlessly.” FactCheck.lk interprets the MP’s larger clai

In parliament, MP Vijitha Herath made two claims about expenditure allocations related to the president: (1) the budget line item titled president’s expenditure head (to discharge duties as the head of state) has increased to LKR 3,779 million, and

The MP argued at a press conference that Sri Lanka’s tax policies don’t take adequate account of the huge inequality existing among Sri Lankan citizens, when designing the distribution of the tax burden. In support of this larger argument, he pro

To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the Weekly Economic Indicators of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual sixth edition (BPM6), and IMF Country Report No. 23/12.

In his briefing to the press, the MP interprets Article 31(3) of the constitution to say that a presidential election must certainly be conducted between 18 September and 18 October 2024. To evaluate this cla

This claim by the State Minister Siyambalapitya was reported differently in the press. However, FactCheck.lk evaluated only his associated social media post. He can be understood as claiming that 4 million individuals will be receiving monthly paymen

In his statement, the MP claims that Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP ratio reduced from 90% at the end of 2005 to 69% by the end of 2014. To check this claim, FactCheck.lk referred to the Annual Reports of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the Minis

MP Alawathuwala claims that the food expenses have tripled from 2019 to 2023, increasing from LKR6,000-6,500 to LKR 16,000-17,000. To verify the above claims, FactCheck.lk referred to multiple publications of the Department of Census and Statistics:

In his speech, the MP sets out a standard monetary poverty measure of the World Bank as 25% of the Sri Lankan population; and argues that when multidimensional factors such as education and health are considered, the poverty level is much greater. He

MP Dissanayake claimed that debt had increased to unprecedented levels during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as prime minister (PM) from 2015 to 2019. In support of his argument, the MP cited that between 2015 and 2020, debt had increased by LKR 6.5

Fact check: The president is correct if the statement is read to mean that it is not possible to secure any more monetary financing until January 2024. Read the full fact-check on the website.

President Wickremesinghe claimed that “money printing” is currently prevented by enacting the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act No. 16 of 2023 (CBA23). To verify this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the CBA23 and

In an interview with Aruna, MP Godahewa made two claims: (1) the increase in tax revenue by 70% in the 2023 budget compared to 2022 is not practical, and (2) the tax hike has resulted in a 70% reduction in the

Today’s the anniversary Of the day I lost you, And for a time it felt as though My life had ended too.

In a parliamentary speech, the MP made two claims: (1) exports have decreased by 19.5%, and (2) the industrial sector has collapsed by 23.4% in the first quarter of 2023. To verify these claims, FactCheck.lk consulted the export and Gross Domestic P

During a Samagi Jana Balawegaya press conference, MP Wickramaratne made two claims in relation to remittances: (i) the highest amount of remittances was received during the 2016-2018 period,

The statement in question was part of a longer parliamentary speech discussing the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2023 (BGL23). State Minister Siyambalapitiya argued that policymakers had made amendments to the taxation of casinos

In a broader discussion on the burden of prisons on the Treasury, the state minister advocated for the revamping of the prison system. In support of his stance, the state minister claimed that: (1) (a) the

To evaluate the MP’s claim, FactCheck.lk consulted the 1981 and 2012 censuses from the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). The census does not define the “City of Colombo.” The 2012 cen

To check the MP’s claim, FactCheck.lk consulted Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2022 report and the Global Health Security (GHS) Index developed b

The MP made three claims regarding low female labour force participation in Sri Lanka: (1) official statistics on contribution to the labour force underestimate women’s contribution to work by not taking account of unpaid work; (2) 60% of unpaid, c

The MP in his statement claims that (1) CBSL maintains both the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) of private and semi-government sector workers and a separate provident fund for its employees; and (2) the CBSL Provident Fund (CBSLP