Opposition MP Harsha de Silva has raised serious concerns over the alleged disappearance of USD 2.5 million in public funds, questioning whether Sri Lanka may have defaulted on debt repayments if the intended creditor had not received multiple payments.
In a statement on X, de Silva said the incident was not merely negligence but a failure that had been repeatedly warned about.
He said concerns had previously been raised at the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) when sovereign debt operations were shifted from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to the Treasury’s Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).
According to de Silva, CoPF had urged the Treasury to recruit competent and experienced staff, stressing that managing a country’s sovereign debt in global financial markets required specialist expertise.
He alleged those warnings were ignored and questioned whether Sri Lanka had technically defaulted, claiming that the creditor country was alleged to have not received five debt payments.
The MP also accused the Ministry of Finance of failing to appear before CoPF for three consecutive meetings on gaming regulation, fourth quarter 2025 fiscal performance, and fiscal-monetary policy coordination.
De Silva said Parliament was constitutionally responsible for public finance and revealed that a letter had been sent to the Treasury Secretary seeking an explanation on how the incident occurred and why both the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank had remained silent.
He said the matter should not be treated as a political issue and called for accountability and urgent action to rebuild public trust.
The comments come amid a widening controversy over an alleged diversion of USD 2.5 million during a foreign debt repayment.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry confirmed that cyber hackers had gained unauthorized access to the computer system of the External Resources Department and carried out a theft linked to a foreign currency payment. (Newswire)