A fact-check of Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe’s statement that Sri Lanka’s national debt burden fell from 105% to 95% of GDP has found the figures are close to one official measure of debt but not to the broader measure used to assess the country’s debt sustainability.
The assessment was carried out by FactCheck.lk and published by Daily Mirror.
What the numbers refer to
FactCheck.lk said it could not locate the Governor’s original statement, but the same precise wording appeared across several outlets, including the Daily News on 5 June 2026, indicating a single official source. The figures were understood to describe the fall in the debt-to-GDP ratio after the 2022-2023 economic crisis.
Reviewing Central Bank and public debt data, the IMF’s Fifth and Sixth Review reports and the Finance Ministry’s quarterly Debt Bulletin, FactCheck.lk found the cited numbers are close to “Central Government Debt” — recorded at 104.2% of GDP in 2023 and 95.5% in 2024.
Why the broader measure matters
Central government debt is only a partial measure, the fact-check noted. The yardstick used in debt sustainability analysis and in Sri Lanka’s IMF programme is “Public Debt”, which also counts provincial and local government borrowing, publicly guaranteed debt of state-owned enterprises and outstanding IMF credit. The IMF programme additionally records the Central Bank’s international currency swap arrangements.
On that measure, the Finance Ministry reported total public debt at 111.7% of GDP in 2023 and 103.2% in 2024 — remaining above 100% of GDP throughout.
FactCheck.lk also examined the scale of the drop. The Governor’s figures imply a 10 percentage point fall between 2023 and 2024, but public debt fell 8.5 points and central government debt 8.7 points — both more than a full point short.
The conclusion: the Governor presented approximately correct central government debt figures and overstated the size of the decline, but an 8.5 point reduction is still substantial and supports the core message of his claim.
Dr. Weerasinghe said earlier this month that the Central Bank sees no need for further interest rate increases, and the bank’s latest monetary policy report noted inflation running above target.
