During the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa as President and Finance Minister in 2012, political interference permitted a default of Rs. 19,375 crore (Rs. 193.7 billion) at the Bank of Ceylon (BOC). In stark contrast, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, serving as President and Finance Minister, has achieved a historic milestone by generating an overall government budget surplus of Rs. 19,700 crore within the first five months of this year.
A report released in 2013 by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), chaired by Dew Gunasekera, revealed that defaulted loans—where not a single installment had been paid—totaled Rs. 193,757,482,076 (approx. Rs. 193.7 billion) at the Bank of Ceylon. The report highlighted that strong political backing enabled borrowers to continuously default on these repayments without consequence.
Meanwhile, reflecting significant economic stability under the present administration, the government recorded a budget surplus of Rs. 19,700 crore between total revenue and total expenditure over the first five months of the year.
Notably, this budget surplus was achieved after settling all recurrent expenses, capital expenditure, and debt servicing obligations for the period.
