Sri Lanka debt stood at US$102.2 billion by March 2026, Anil Jayantha says, stressing exchange losses do not create new debt.
The Sri Lanka debt position stood at approximately US$102.2 billion by the end of March 2026, Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando informed Parliament, while clarifying how exchange rate movements affect debt reporting.
He emphasized that a country’s debt sustainability should not be judged only by fluctuations in the exchange rate, but by its actual ability to repay the debt it has already taken.
According to the Deputy Minister, central government debt amounted to US$98.96 billion by the end of March 2026.
He said that when borrowings by provincial councils, local government bodies, and state-owned enterprises are also included, the total public sector debt stock rises to around US$102.2 billion.
Fernando pointed out that this figure represents a decline compared to the debt level reported at the end of 2025.
The Deputy Minister also addressed what he described as common misunderstandings over calculating state debt in Sri Lankan rupees and the impact of rupee depreciation.
“If debt is taken in dollars, that liability remains in dollars. Debt taken in rupees remains in rupees. For international transactions and reporting requirements, this data often has to be presented in US dollars. However, when converting these statistics to rupees, the reported value can change based on the prevailing exchange rate,” he explained.
Fernando said that when the rupee depreciates, the rupee value of foreign currency debt increases, but the actual foreign debt liability does not increase.
He noted that the additional rupee amount shown in accounts is an exchange rate loss, not newly incurred debt.
The Deputy Minister added that the key challenge before policymakers is to maintain debt sustainability while managing repayment capacity.
