The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has strongly criticized the 2025 budget presented by President Anura Dissanayake, claiming that it contains no new policies and was entirely designed to satisfy the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking at a press conference at the party office in Nugegoda, FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda pointed out that most of the budget’s content was almost identical to the economic framework implemented by Ranil Wickremesinghe over the past few years.
“When President Anura Dissanayake came to Parliament to present the 2025 budget, newspapers reported that he brought the document in a reed cover instead of the traditional secret box. The truth is, there was nothing secret about it. He simply presented the austerity program that the IMF had dictated to Sri Lanka. At the same time, he continued to push the same economic policies that Ranil Wickremesinghe had implemented over the past two to three years,” Jayagoda said.
He further stated that while Ranil Wickremesinghe had previously delivered IMF-driven budgets in 2023 and 2024, this time, Anura Dissanayake’s lips, tongue, throat, and larynx were used to convey the same IMF and imperialist financial policies. “Ranil’s program is moving forward even without Ranil,” he added.
Jayagoda drew a historical parallel to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who spearheaded neoliberal reforms in the 1980s. When a journalist asked her what she considered her greatest political victory, she reportedly replied, “Tony Blair and Blairism.”
“When Thatcher introduced neoliberal economic policies in the UK, the Labour Party fiercely opposed them, rallying the public against her government. However, when Tony Blair became the leader of the Labour Party, he fully embraced the neoliberal program. Thatcher saw this as her ultimate success—her policies continuing under the leadership of her former opponents.
Fatefully, the same thing has happened in Sri Lanka. Yesterday, Harsha de Silva, a well-known advocate of neoliberal capitalism and an IMF pawn, openly celebrated Anura Dissanayake’s budget as a victory for their ideology. Meanwhile, an English newspaper reported that Murtaza Jafferji, Chairman of Advocate Institute, which receives funding from USAID to promote neoliberal economic policies, also praised the budget, calling it business-friendly and favorable to capitalists.
If those who once supported neoliberalism and IMF-driven policies are now praising Anura Dissanayake’s budget, we must question what is truly happening, Jayagoda argued.
The FSP Education Secretary accused President Dissanayake of being selective in his criticism of previous governments.
“In his budget speech, Anura Dissanayake criticized Ranil Wickremesinghe, talking about corruption, shrinking democracy, and economic mismanagement. But he conveniently failed to mention that the same IMF-driven austerity policies were imposed under Ranil’s government. He also ignored how increased taxation burdened the people, instead choosing to praise the economic stability achieved under Wickremesinghe’s rule.
If the economy has truly stabilized, as the President claims, then how did it happen within just a few months? Anura Dissanayake is now defending the same anti-people economic program that he once opposed. We challenge him to explain exactly how the economy has ‘stabilized’ under his leadership,” he demanded.
Jayagoda further highlighted contradictions in debt restructuring policies.
“First, they say that Ranil Wickremesinghe had already made significant progress on debt restructuring, and therefore, there was no choice but to continue his approach. This is completely false—there were alternative strategies available. Then, they contradict themselves by claiming that their government achieved major benefits through this restructuring process. Which is it? Either you are forced to follow Ranil’s plan, or you negotiated a better deal—you can’t have it both ways.
Then, they claim that ‘if you take a loan, you must repay it.’ Does this mean there is no real debt restructuring at all? During the election campaign, the National People’s Power (NPP) repeatedly stated that loans taken under the Rajapaksa regime were illegitimate and that the people should not be responsible for repaying them. They even wrote in their election manifesto that they would negotiate an alternative debt restructuring plan. Now, they have completely abandoned that stance,” Jayagoda said.
The Frontline Socialist Party concluded that the 2025 budget is nothing more than a continuation of IMF-backed neoliberal policies, with the burden of economic recovery placed on the working class and the poor.
“This is not a budget for the people. This is a budget for the IMF, the financial elite, and international capitalists. The government that once rallied against neoliberalism is now reading Ranil’s economic program from Anura’s mouth.
The people should see through this deception. This government has abandoned the working class, and its budget is nothing more than a betrayal of its promises,” Jayagoda asserted.
