The Dinana Dakuna (“Winning South”) collective says managing the economy within International Monetary Fund conditions cannot by itself conceal the collapse in real incomes and the poverty crisis facing Sri Lankan households.
The group pointed to the recently published global minimum wage index in which Sri Lanka ranks 120th of 130 countries on purchasing-power-adjusted terms, with a monthly floor recorded at USD 200. It said the ranking makes the state of ordinary purchasing power plain.
The figures it cited
Citing the United Nations Development Programme’s multidimensional vulnerability reporting, the collective said 55.7 per cent of the population — more than 12.3 million people — are multidimensionally vulnerable across education, health, indebtedness and living standards.
It put the poverty rate above 25 per cent, and said more than a third of the population has resorted to borrowing or pawning goods to meet basic needs such as food and medicine.
The collective did not name the specific UNDP report the 55.7 per cent figure is drawn from, and no government or IMF response to the statement had been issued.
The argument on fiscal targets
The group acknowledged that the government and the IMF have presented positive indicators on financial stability, a primary account surplus and management of the budget deficit — but said those data do not describe the daily living conditions of the population.
It argued that fiscal stability has been achieved by raising indirect taxes, including VAT, and by restricting public expenditure, and that this tax burden has fallen heavily on real incomes.
Dinana Dakuna called on the government to ease the tax burden on essential consumer goods and production inputs, reduce production costs for small and medium enterprises, and provide targeted relief on household indebtedness and food security.
The health of an economy, it said, should be measured not only by whether fiscal targets are met but by real wage growth, poverty reduction and the restoration of purchasing power. Documented economic stability cannot be sustained without real purchasing power for the public, the collective said, and it is the government’s responsibility to build an economic framework that secures a fair and dignified standard of living for working people.
Where the claims sit
The minimum wage ranking the collective relies on is compiled by Visual Capitalist from ILOSTAT data and rests on 2024 figures, so it would not capture any subsequent revision to Sri Lanka’s wage floor. Ada Derana published its own report of the same ranking on Friday.
Dinana Dakuna is a political collective that has previously lobbied the Chief Prelates over the 22nd Amendment and put questions to the Finance Ministry Secretary. Its poverty estimate of “above 25 per cent” is more conservative than Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s recent claim of 30 to 40 per cent in affected rural electorates.
