Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at 37 billion US dollars, contrary to claims made by affiliates of opposition MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake that it had increased from 71 billion to 100 billion during his tenure, President Ranil Wickremesinghe clarified.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, July 2, Wickremesinghe addressed and refuted a social media post attributed to a supporter of Dissanayake, the leader of the leftist National People’s Power (NPP).
“Certain political groups are spreading false information about our foreign debt on social media,” Wickremesinghe stated. “I have debated with Dissanayake and we have had our confrontations, but he has never stooped to such low-level insults. However, some of his followers seem intent on tarnishing even his reputation.”
“Our total foreign debt is 37 billion dollars. Yet, this person falsely claims it’s 71 billion and alleges we borrowed up to 100 billion in the past two years. Everyone knows no country extended loans to us after we declared a default. Legally, no country can provide us with loans. So what purpose do these lies serve?”
Wickremesinghe humorously added, “If no country is lending to us, how are we obtaining these supposed loans? Am I supposed to rob the Bank of England? I don’t know, but the person who posted this seems more experienced in robbing banks,” prompting laughter across the parliament.
Wickremesinghe’s previous Yahapalana government, in which he served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019, was marred by a scandal involving accusations from opposition lawmakers of a Central Bank ‘bond scam’, popularly known as ‘maha bankuwa kaduwa’ (broke, or robbed, the central bank).
Wickremesinghe further detailed that of Sri Lanka’s 37 billion US dollars in foreign debt, 10 billion is bilateral debt, 11.7 billion is multilateral debt, and 14 billion is commercial debt, of which 12.5 billion are international sovereign bonds (ISBs).
