President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has rejected claims that Sri Lanka’s economy is on the verge of collapse, arguing that the headline indicators instead point to stabilisation and what he called “historic progress” under his administration.

Speaking at a ceremony in Matara — the same event where the government launched Rs. 1.2 billion in compensation for Nilwala salt-barrier farmers — the President said narratives predicting decline were being amplified by “those responsible for past crises.”

He cited Treasury revenue reaching 16.7% of GDP in 2025, which he described as the highest in three decades. Contrasting current conditions with 2022 and 2023, he said a Treasury overdraft of roughly Rs. 800 billion had been reversed, with reserves climbing toward Rs. 1 trillion before easing slightly on disaster-related spending.

Dissanayake said the budget deficit had been cut to 2.3% — which he called the lowest in Sri Lanka’s history — noting that every Finance Minister since 1957 had promised to bring it below 5% without success. He added that the country posted a current account surplus of US$1.7 billion last year, the highest on record, and a primary surplus of 5.4%, more than double the International Monetary Fund’s 2.3% target. “All these indicators show that we have brought the economy to a stable level,” he said.

The President acknowledged significant headwinds, including higher US tariffs under President Donald Trump — which he said had prompted ongoing talks to protect export markets — and Cyclone Ditwah, which he said caused damage exceeding US$3 billion, equal to about 3% of GDP, and destroyed more than 6,000 homes. The government has allocated Rs. 500 billion for recovery.

Turning political, Dissanayake accused opponents facing corruption allegations of trying to destabilise the government. “Who wants to bring down this government? It is not the people. It is those who are corrupt, thieves and criminals,” he said. “They want to create chaos. But we will not panic.”

His remarks came as Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa warned the same day that the country faced “serious economic risk,” accusing the government of masking the true picture with “false statistics.”