Hon. Chathuranga Abeysinghe - Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development

## Summary Deputy Minister Abeysinghe defended the Government's economic management record, contrasting what he described as the National People's Power's structured, resilience-focused economic approach against the previous administrations' failures to secure food, energy, or financial stability, which he argued culminated in the country's bankruptcy. He rejected the Opposition Leader's claim that Sri Lanka cannot meet a USD 3.5 billion debt obligation in 2028 as unfounded, citing improved economic indicators including a better trade balance, USD 751 million growth in remittances, and import cover of approximately 3.8 months. The Deputy Minister announced the approval of a regulation under Section 22 of the 2017 Act raising the Business Foreign Currency Account ceiling for capital transactions from USD 200,000 to USD 500,000 and increasing the Personal Foreign Currency Account limit from USD 20,000 to USD 25,000, framing these measures as tools to facilitate outward investment and business expansion by local entrepreneurs. He concluded by calling for Opposition cooperation in the country's economic development.

## Summary Deputy Minister Abeysinghe defended the government's economic management record, dismissing Opposition predictions of economic collapse as politically motivated "counterfactual speculation," and argued that Sri Lanka has met IMF programme benchmarks ahead of the Managing Director's scheduled visit that Saturday to release the next tranche. He outlined key macroeconomic targets — including revenue at 15.9% of GDP, a primary surplus of approximately 2.5%, inflation near 5%, and high single-digit interest rates — as evidence of a stable recovery trajectory. On the specific legislation under debate, he highlighted the Container Depot Operators Licensing Bill as bringing regulatory order to a previously unregulated logistics sector, noting that logistics revenues reached a record USD 1.9 billion the prior year, and referenced planned port capacity expansion of 6 million TEUs through ECT and WCT developments. He also supported the Institute of Real Estate Professionals Bill as part of a broader government effort to establish professional standards and ethics across sectors, and invited Opposition economists to engage constructively through the Committee on Public Finance.