Deputy Finance Minister Rejects Claims of Sharp Increase in Government Foreign Debt

Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando has strongly rejected claims that the government’s foreign debt has increased significantly.

He said it was regrettable that such claims were being made without reference to official data.

Referring to recently released information from the Central Bank, the Deputy Minister noted that some media reports had claimed that the government’s debt had increased by more than Rs. 190 billion.

However, he said those reports did not provide a clear explanation of how the alleged increase in debt had been calculated and that some of the data presented was also inaccurate.

Dr. Fernando emphasized that the government’s official and reliable information on public debt is published through the quarterly Debt Bulletin.

According to him, the bulletin provides detailed information on domestic and foreign debt, including debt obtained from individual countries, as well as multilateral, bilateral and commercial foreign borrowings.

He therefore stressed that reports on government debt should be based on official documents and verified data.

The Deputy Minister maintained that, according to the official figures, government debt has not increased in the manner claimed in the reports.