Sri Lanka has secured more than US$1.85 billion in foreign loans since the current government took office, according to information the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs disclosed in Parliament.
The Ministry was responding to a query raised by Member of Parliament Dayasiri Jayasekara. It said the country obtained foreign loans amounting to US$1,854.77 million between the 2024 presidential election and May 5, 2026, excluding financial assistance received from the International Monetary Fund. The financing package covers 18 development projects that had been agreed prior to the presidential election and includes both bilateral and multilateral lenders. The Ministry named Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands and India among the source countries.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha separately informed Parliament that Sri Lanka’s total outstanding debt currently stands at approximately US$102.02 billion — consistent with the figure he set out during a debt sustainability presentation on June 12, where he placed government debt at $98.96 billion and projected the deficit at 2.3 percent of GDP.
The disclosure drew sharply diverging political responses. Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Upali Pannilage defended the administration’s record, saying the government had succeeded in achieving economic progress and stability. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a UNP Working Committee meeting, offered a contrasting assessment, warning that the country’s economy was heading towards a serious crisis. Wickremesinghe had stewarded the post-default IMF programme as president before the 2024 election; the NPP government has since renegotiated several of the programme’s review benchmarks while keeping the $2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility on track.
Source: US$1.85 billion in foreign loans obtained since current govt. took office — Ada Derana, June 14.
