Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Sujeewa Senasinghe claimed in Parliament on Tuesday that the rupee — already at around Rs.338 to the dollar — could weaken beyond Rs.360 within the next five months, and predicted that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would be compelled to seek a national government within four.
Addressing the House, Senasinghe alleged that the current administration had “mismanaged” the economic situation and warned of a difficult period ahead, citing what he said were mounting pressures on the currency, the cost of living and the fiscal position.
“Anura Kumara is saying not only I cannot do the job, but even my people cannot do it,” Senasinghe said, predicting that a national-government proposal would emerge from the President in the near future as the political space narrowed.
The remarks land at a pointed moment. People’s Bank’s published selling rate touched a record Rs.340.67 on Monday, and the Central Bank Governor framed the slide as a regional pattern rather than a Sri Lanka-specific shock, citing comparable moves in India, Nepal and Indonesia. Senasinghe’s projection of a Rs.360 print would mark the steepest cyclical depreciation of the post-restructuring period.
The “national government” framing is also a notable departure. The NPP currently holds a 159-seat parliamentary majority, ruling out any constitutional need for a coalition. Senasinghe’s prediction casts the proposal instead as a future political concession the President would be forced to make under economic pressure — a framing the government and senior NPP figures have rejected at past occasions.
The Senasinghe intervention forms part of a wider SJB push this week pairing the rupee fall with allegations that 4,000 vehicle import LCs were rushed through under the old tax rate before the 50% import surcharge took effect.
