The current government has been able to systematically reduce the budget deficit, says Professor Priyanga Dunusinghe of the Department of Economics, University of Colombo.

Professor Dunusinghe pointed out that reports claiming the government has taken on a large amount of new debt over the past year are inaccurate.

Speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo, Prof. Dunusinghe noted that the present government has mainly borrowed from domestic sources due to the limitation of access to international financial markets or bilateral lenders.

He stated, “Even multilateral institutions are now providing fewer concessional loan facilities than before. Therefore, while a budget deficit remains, the government has been compelled to borrow domestically. I don’t see any evidence of excessive borrowing under this government. On the contrary, the budget deficit has been steadily declining.”

“When we look at the borrowing targets set for 2026, those figures also indicate a further reduction in government borrowing. So I don’t believe there is credible evidence to support claims that this government has borrowed excessively within a short period”, Prof. Dunusinghe added.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa stated that they did not inherit a stable or prosperous country and therefore the present government can only spend in proportion to the strength of the economy.

The Minister said setting and pursuing state revenue targets has been one of the main goals of the present administration and claimed they have succeeded in that effort.

Minister Jayatissa said currently, several state institutions that generate revenue have even exceeded their targets while the government has been very careful in managing public expenditure.

Although the state collects around Rs. 3,000 to 4,000 billion in tax revenue, it has been observed that not all of that money was previously used in a planned and targeted manner for the benefit of the people, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa added further.