Sri Lanka’s creditors are unlikely to classify the US$ 2.5 million Treasury cyber theft as a technical debt default, Deputy Minister of Finance Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando told Parliament on Monday, citing advice from the government’s financial and legal advisors.
Responding to questions from Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Fernando said the incident would more likely be treated as a cybercrime matter rather than a refusal or inability to repay debt obligations. “Although the funds remitted by Sri Lanka were not received by the Australian creditor, this does not indicate an inability or hesitation by the government to repay debt,” he said. “Given the close relations between Sri Lanka and Australia, and because this is a cybercrime incident, advisors have informed us that Australia and Paris Club members are unlikely to consider this a debt default.”
The statement is the government’s first on-the-record parliamentary rebuttal of the technical-default framing raised earlier by Committee on Public Finance Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva on April 23.
According to the timeline Fernando laid out, the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) were both informed of the matter on January 9, 2026. The funds had been a debt instalment due to the Australian Export Finance Agency before fraudulent email instructions rerouted the payment.
The statement followed a heated exchange earlier in the day. Chief Opposition Whip MP Gayantha Karunathilake demanded an urgent debate on the cyber theft after submitting a written request to the Speaker. Several Opposition MPs stood at their desks pressing the government to allow the debate, prompting Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne to remind the House that urgent debates require approval from both the Speaker and Parliament before a session begins.
Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake then announced that the government was prepared to hold the debate the same day, scheduling it from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. The decision reverses the position taken at the April 27 party leaders’ meeting, when the government had rejected an opposition request for a one-day debate.
Investigations remain active. Five Treasury officials have been interdicted, the FBI has joined the international probe, and documents linked to a French loan repayment went missing — pointing investigators toward a possible second fraud vector.
