Hon. (Dr.) Kaushalya Ariyarathne - Deputy Minister of Mass Media

Hon. Deputy Speaker, before today’s subject, I wish to respond to this morning’s uproar about the Women’s Commission. There were issues raised about procedure and some technical and operational delays, which the Hon. Minister has repeatedly and clearly said are being corrected. Yet, an attempt is made to create a big picture as if we are trying to suppress the Women’s Commission. It is we who built a genuine women’s movement that raised the real voice of women. As a result of that movement, for the first time, twenty women—who did not come into politics through any family base of fathers or husbands but by doing real grassroots politics and representing marginalized groups—were brought into Parliament by us. The Leader of the Opposition, who levels these accusations, could not build even a women’s movement outside of family politics. I remember during the election, there were SJB women who had genuinely worked on the ground; they were not even given nominations. To console some, knowing they would not be elected, they were placed on the National List. First, build a real women’s movement within your party; then we can debate women’s rights. Again, there were procedural delays; in government work that can happen. They have been rectified. So, please, do not drag back false debates about the Women’s Commission. Today we bring for approval four Gazettes—rules, orders and resolutions—all connected to our economy, our international relations and our tourism. The Opposition is fond of playing their broken record that we have broken the economy and all international relations are lost. As an answer, let me quote from IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s interview yesterday: “I had a chance to meet with the community affected by ‘Ditwah’ and see that people remain strong... I also am very impressed by how the Government stepped forward, quickly and decisively. We, at the IMF, were able to provide emergency financing of over US Dollars 200 million, which came in very timely. So, these communities are not to bear alone the pain of what has happened to them. Indeed, Sri Lanka has had quite a challenge in the last decade. Now, we have a tremendous opportunity for the country. I think for the first time, there is a Government that is trusted by the people and is doing their part to gain that trust. I want to say from our experience, one, in a short time Sri Lanka regained macroeconomic and financial stability. Inflation was 70%, now is down to 2%. Growth was negative, now we have about 5% growth. I also saw in the President and in the members of the Government, genuine interest in the well-being of people. And I know that success comes when the country is united. This Government is working so hard to achieve that.” That is not us saying it; it is Kristalina Georgieva. This has been a week of international relations. In fact, over the last two weeks, the Government has actively engaged internationally, showing that as a country, a nation and a government we are on the right path. It began when, at the President’s invitation, we hosted the India-Pakistan cricket match. On 9th February, Myanmar gifted 500 metric tons of rice purely on goodwill. On 12th and 13th February, the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission met, discussing GSP+, maritime security, socio-economic and political relations. We signed an economic cooperation agreement with Japan and are working to implement Japanese investments in Sri Lanka. Yesterday, UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy visited, and the IMF Managing Director too. At this moment, the President is in India at a state-level summit on Artificial Intelligence—important for our digital economy. They said we could not even run a corner shop; yet a year later we have achieved notable growth—4.8% in Q1, 4.9% in Q2 and 5.4% in Q3 of last year. Our medium-term target is 7% growth, unchanged. We aim to keep inflation around 5%; as of January 2026 it is 2.3%. Despite Ditwa’s impact on roads and transport, the Government quickly restored services, repaired roads and built temporary bridges, avoiding inflation spikes. The Opposition asked us to revise the Budget due to Ditwa. We calmly said no; the path is clear, no need to amend the Budget. Policy rates are now steady at 7.75%. Even after spending USD 1.8 billion on vehicle imports, by December 2025 official reserves stood at USD 6.8 billion. We paid USD 3.9 billion in debt service in 2025. To those fearmongering about national security: tourists are coming. In 2025 we welcomed the highest number of tourists, a 15.1% increase over 2024, mainly from India, the UK and Russia. Four key areas—tourism, workers’ remittances, FDI and exports—are all growing. Our trade income is rising; the current account recorded a USD 1.7 billion surplus. If anyone reads the data properly, there is no dispute—we are making positive progress. The Opposition cheered when the US imposed tariffs, hoping the economy would collapse. Through negotiations, we reduced those tariffs significantly—by about 24%, in my view. Do not be happy at national setbacks; organize yourselves with better arguments instead of playing the same old record. I conclude by saying: our journey is steady. A year on, the numbers prove we are moving towards a stable economy. We have pulled the country out of the abyss and can now hold our heads high. We will continue to improve. Thank you.