Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Wednesday, 3 December 2025 05:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma
The Government is in talks with the insurance and banking sectors to help households, SMEs and businesses hit by Cyclone Ditwah while keeping the 2026 macroeconomic trajectory and reform agenda intact, Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma told the Sri Lanka Economic and Investment Summit yesterday.
He acknowledged concerns that the poorest households, those who have lost homes and small and medium enterprises are less resilient to a shock of this scale, and that some fear the crisis could derail reforms.
Dr. Suriyapperuma said the authorities were in active dialogue with the financial system to contain the economic fallout.
“We have reached out to the banking and insurance sectors to understand what the impact is on their clients and customers and how to work together as a team to take the country forward.” He added that he would be meeting the insurance regulator and industry leaders shortly, saying, “We want to understand their response so that we are able to help businesses get back on their feet very quickly and support individuals to contribute back into the economy.”
He stressed that the objective is to minimise business disruption and income losses in the real economy. “This is to ensure that the livelihood of people is not disturbed, or that disturbance is minimised to the maximum extent possible,” Dr. Suriyapperuma said.
Setting out the fiscal response, Dr. Suriyapperuma said emergency Budget lines had been pre-provisioned and were now being activated.
“Budgetary provisions for emergency situations are already available. From that, nearly Rs. 30 billion is now set aside to meet the immediate challenges that we have at hand and keep the financial discipline that we brought into the system.”
He noted that the Treasury has started releasing funds for housing support. “We authorised Rs. 7.5 billion to be released from the Treasury for those exercises. Those funds will go into the homes requiring assistance to start the rebuilding process.”
To speed implementation, spending powers have been pushed down the chain of command.
“Swift action was taken by the Government to allow up to Rs. 50 million to be used by District Secretaries and this morning we are allowing Ministerial Secretaries to spend up to Rs. 150 million on the recovery. This is to make sure nothing in circulars or bureaucracy will be a challenge for implementation of immediate relief,” the Treasury Secretary said.
Dr. Suriyapperuma argued that this combination of prepared Budget space, tighter controls and targeted delegation is what allows the Treasury to respond quickly without losing fiscal discipline.
“Zero tolerance for corruption and channelling funding properly into the Treasury allowed us to build buffers to face situations of this nature and look forward with confidence that we can manage,” he said.
Authorities have begun a rapid damage assessment with support from the World Bank.
Dr. Suriyapperuma said, “World Bank has offered assistance to assess the extent of damage through their rapid post-damage assessment system. We are expecting within two weeks to have an initial understanding not only of the number of structures damaged but also the cost of those damages.”
Restoring connectivity and basic economic functions is being treated as an immediate priority. “The clean-up efforts have already started because it is very important to give the connectivity back to people to start their lives and connectivity back to businesses to continue their operations,” he said. Telecom operators, supported by private firms, have restored most services.
He linked the recovery effort to the capital Budget, arguing that implementation rather than allocation is now decisive.
“We can have commitments and allocations in relation to capital expenditure but it is all about implementation,” he said. “Based on the data I have seen so far, this year will be better than some of the previous years in terms of capital expenditure utilisation.”
Donations have flowed in at scale. “Facilities were created immediately to allow people to contribute and as of yesterday we have received over three hundred million rupees,” he said. He added that more than ten thousand transfers had been made in foreign currencies and over ninety thousand transactions in total within days.
Customs has introduced a fast-track system for relief goods. Dr. Suriyapperuma said, “There is a special taskforce set up by Customs. The mechanism simplifies documentation and clearing with zero taxes and fees. Any consignment marked as DMC will be cleared through this expedited process and we expect immediate clearance.”
For the medium term, a new reconstruction vehicle has been approved. “The Government has made a decision to set up the Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund with involvement of the private sector, State officials and political leadership,” he said, noting that the President and economic agencies had been in continuous discussions with business leaders to shape its mandate.
Addressing concerns about policy continuity, Dr. Suriyapperuma said the reform agenda set out in the 2026 Budget remains intact.
“The Government has laid down a very clear path,” he said. “There are six strategies that will take the country forward, including inclusive growth, export diversification, new markets, regional development, manufacturing, stabilisation and the digital drive.”
He stressed that SMEs remain central to the recovery and long-term growth plan. “We will be working and supporting our business communities, including the SME sector,” he said.
Dr. Suriyapperuma added that multilateral partners are fully aligned with the program. “All the multilateral agencies have reached out to us already and we are working to extend their support and assistance for the initial aftermath and to continue the journey of growth.”
Despite the scale of damage, the Treasury does not expect the disaster to shift next year’s economic trajectory.
“Based on the information we have, we are quite certain this will not create a major deviation,” he said. “There are no significant deviations in the initial projections for 2026 and we are confident we will be able to meet the challenge very quickly.”
He said the crisis would test but not derail the recovery.
“Sri Lanka as a country is known for our resilience and this is another opportunity for us to demonstrate it,” he said, adding that rebuilding requires coordinated action across the public and private sectors. “The entire ecosystem has to be strengthened for us to move forward as a country. The journey will continue.”
