Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has challenged the government’s account of the state of Treasury finances a day before the 2027 Budget is presented, asking why a budget should be needed to deliver relief if the Treasury is as full as ministers say.
If the Treasury is overflowing with money, it must be asked whether a budget has to come specifically in order to give relief to the people, Premadasa said, Hiru News reported at 4.09 p.m. on Wednesday.
He was answering journalists’ questions after a meeting of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s executive committee at the party’s headquarters.
The case he made
Premadasa said 22 million people in the country face a severe crisis under the present government, citing the inability to make ends meet, rising prices of goods and stalled development work.
He said repressive legislation is being brought in under the cover of preventing organised crime and terrorism against the state, violating people’s fundamental and human rights. He added that it is unacceptable for the security forces to act in a manner that disrespects the Maha Sangha and the robe.
The SJB consistently stands for eradicating poverty and strengthening the livelihoods of the whole population including micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, farmers, fishermen and workers, he said. Professionals such as doctors and engineers are now leaving the country, he added.
The Rs 17,000 figure
His sharpest line was aimed at a specific government claim.
Premadasa said recent fuel price increases have raised the cost of living and inflation, and that saying a person can live on Rs 17,000 to Rs 18,000 a month is not policymaking based on scientific data — it shows, he said, that the government has no feeling for the people.
What this attaches to
The remarks land the day before the 2027 Budget speech, which this desk reported is due in Parliament on Thursday.
The two pieces of legislation he refers to are both live. The Organised Crime Prevention Bill has been before the Supreme Court, with the Attorney General making submissions, and the proposed Prevention of Security Threats Act drew criticism from UN experts over its revisions on 10 November.
The fuel price argument also has a current counterpart: the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation disclosed on Wednesday that it recorded a Rs 29.2 billion profit in the first half of 2026.
Not reported
The filing does not say which government statement Premadasa was responding to on the state of the Treasury, or give the figure ministers have used. It does not identify who made the Rs 17,000–18,000 claim, in what setting, or whether that figure refers to an official poverty line, a subsistence estimate or a relief calculation.
No source is given for the 22 million figure, which is close to the country’s whole population. The filing names no piece of legislation directly, does not describe the incident or incidents involving the security forces and the Maha Sangha that he refers to, and reports no government response.
Nothing states what the SJB will propose in the Budget debate, whether it will vote against the Budget, or what relief measures Premadasa says should have been delivered without one.
A note on sourcing. This article rests on a single newsroom’s filing of a press conference. Searches of the Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, the Island, the Daily FT and the Daily News returned only the Opposition Leader’s earlier statements on the 2026 Budget, not Wednesday’s remarks, at the time of writing. Figures and framings from those earlier statements have deliberately not been carried over here.
