News
Treasury theft won’t be treated by creditors as a default: Govt.
Sri Lanka’s creditors were unlikely to classify the recent USD 2.5 million Treasury fund heist as a technical debt default, Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando told Parliament yesterday (05), citing assessments by the Government’s financial and legal advisors engaged in the debt restructuring process.
Responding to queries raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Fernando said the incident is expected to be treated as a cybercrime matter rather than a failure or refusal by the State to honour its debt obligations.
“Although the funds remitted by Sri Lanka were not received by the Australian creditor, this does not indicate an inability or unwillingness on the part of the Government to repay,” he said, adding that given the nature of the incident and Sri Lanka’s relations with Australia, advisors believe neither Australia nor Paris Club members are likely to deem it a debt default.
Fernando said debt restructuring advisors had been consulted on whether the episode could amount to a technical default, while investigations are continuing to establish the nature of the alleged fraud.
Outlining the sequence of events, he said the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team was notified on January 9, 2026, with the Criminal Investigation Department also informed the same day. He said Australia Export Finance later notified Sri Lankan authorities on March 23 that the funds had not been received. A complaint was subsequently lodged with the CID by the Director General of the External Resources Department on March 24, while the Financial Intelligence Unit was informed on April 1.
Rejecting allegations that the Government had withheld information from Parliament, Fernando said there had been no attempt to suppress facts, noting that disclosure had been delayed pending further clarity from ongoing investigations, particularly regarding possible official involvement and internal control lapses.
He assured that all findings would be presented to Parliament in due course.
Premadasa questioned the delay in informing the House, given the timeline of events.
Fernando also cautioned against unverified speculation surrounding the death of a Ministry official linked to the incident, urging both the Opposition and the media to refrain from disseminating unsubstantiated claims.
Responding to claims raised by Premadasa that the deceased official was the first to detect and report the fund diversion, Fernando declined to confirm or deny the assertion, warning that such speculation could mislead the public and aggravate the situation.
He said investigations by the CID, in collaboration with the Finance Ministry’s External Resources Department and the Public Debt Management Office, are ongoing, adding that the continued service of the Ministry Secretary would not impede impartial inquiries.
“I am not prepared to present unverified information until investigations are concluded,” he added.
By Saman Indrajith
As per the provisions of section 51 of the Public Finance Managaement Act No. 44 of 2024, the public should be issued with a report on the final budgetary situation for each year and, the report is then published in the official website of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Thereby the report has to be submitted to the Parliament. The final budgetary situation report (Annual Report) – 2025 has been prepared by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and published. The report contains the Public Finance Policy, strategies and challenges, economic trends in 2025, macro – economic and socio – economic indicators covering all sectors of the economy as well as description on the global economic growth.
Furthermore, it accompanies a detailed description government revenue and expenditure, cash flow management, financing the budget deficit and the loan structure.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to submit the Report on the Final Budgetary Condition (Annual Report) – 2025 to Parliament.
Business
Cabinet nod to accept increased Loan Grant provided by the Asian Development Bank under Policy Based Loan Facilities – 2026
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 16.03.2026 to obtain United States Dollars 380 million from the policy – based loan facilities of the Asian Development Bank in the year 2026.
United States Dollars 100 million out of it is allocated for Trade, Investment and Industries Development Programme – Sub Programme 1. However, amidst the economic uncertainty resulting from the current Middle East crisis and the climatic tragedies, the Asian Development Bank has agreed to assist
by increasing a supplementary financing package of United States Dollars 100 million so that it will beMincreased up to United States Dollars 200 million.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to take further measures to obtain the said loan grant.
News
Submission of Revenue Protection Order Prepared under the Provisions of the Revenue Protection Act No. 19 of 1962 to the Parliament for its approval.
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was given at the meeting held on 23.02.2026 to impose the custom import duty amounts under four (04) categories as 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% which had been executed only under three (03) categories in order to increase the target export income of the country, to execute the
recommendations of the national customs duty policies committee, and to implement new national sub division customs codes for promoting the local agricultural and industrial sector.
Imposing provisions in relation to the above, the Revenue Protection Order – No. 01/2026 under the Revenue Protection Act No. 19 of 1962 has been published in the extraordinary gazette notification No. 2478/03 of 03.03.2026.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to submit the said revenue protection order to Parliament for its concurrence.
Report on the Final Budgetary Condition (Annual Report) – 2025 submited to parliament
Cabinet nod to accept increased Loan Grant provided by the Asian Development Bank under Policy Based Loan Facilities – 2026
Submission of Revenue Protection Order Prepared under the Provisions of the Revenue Protection Act No. 19 of 1962 to the Parliament for its approval.
Resettlement of unauthorized settlers affected by the Land Acquisition process for the implementation of Phase III of the Baseline Road Extension Project
Cabinet approves project to modernize school hostel facilities during the 2026–2028 period at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,008 million
New National Action Plan for Human-Elephant Conflict Management to be drafted
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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