Introduction
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that he hasn’t taken any Foreign Loan during his two years tenure (2020-2021).
In fact, Sri Lanka gets foreign loans both through the distributions of recently concurred loans, as well as through new loans settled after some random period. In his proclamation, the state of Sri Lanka got distributions of USD 3,467 million from recently concurred loans, from January 2020 to August 2021.
(Screenshot from the News Wire website)
“No foreign loans have been taken during my two years” President – NewsWire
Fact Check
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Report External Debt in Sri Lanka increased to 51117.43 USD Million in the third quarter of 2021 from 50438.48 USD Million in the second quarter of 2021. source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka
(Screenshot from Central Bank of Sri Lanka website)
Key information about Sri Lanka External Debt
- Sri Lanka External Debt reached 49.2 USD bn in Dec 2020, compared with 50.6 USD bn in the previous quarter.
- Sri Lanka External Debt: USD Mn data is updated quarterly, available from Dec 2012 to Dec 2020.
- The data reached an all-time high of 55.6 USD bn in Jun 2019 and a record low of 37.1 USD bn in Dec 2012.
(Screenshot from the CEIC data website)
Sri Lanka External Debt, 2012 – 2022 | CEIC Data
Sri Lanka Total Gross External Debt – 2021 Data – 2022 Forecast – 2012-2020 Historical
Rating
Misleading/False Information
Conclusion
Our research confirmed that the claim of Sri Lanka’s President is False, in the event that the president intended to allude to just new market-based loans instead of the new concessional multilateral and two-sided loans, the case would in any case be inaccurate, the claim was made to gain general public support. As indicated by Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka got market loans adding up to USD 1,308 million between January 2020 and August 2021. The president is inaccurate in his case that no foreign loans were taken during his presidency. It is misinformation regardless of whether he was alluding to just new loans concurred after 2020 or was aiming to allude to just new market-based borrowings. Such statement was made to create a soft image of current government amidst the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka.