What happened to $2.5 million of the Sri Lankan people’s money? Disappeared! – Harsha De Silva, MP
This is not just negligence. This is a failure we warned about. When debt operations were moved from the CBSL to the Treasury’s PDMO, the COPF repeatedly urged the Treasury to hire competent, experienced staff. Managing a sovereign nation’s debt in global financial markets is not a clerical task. Those warnings were ignored.
Now we are paying the price, and the question is, technically, has Sri Lanka defaulted on payments as the creditor is alleged to have not received five debt payments? This comes as the MoF has failed to appear before COPF for three consecutive meetings: on gaming regulation, Q4 2025 fiscal performance, and the critical discussion on fiscal-monetary policy coordination. In over 15 years in Sri Lanka Parliament, I have never seen this level of contempt for parliamentary oversight.
This morning, we wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury. Parliament is constitutionally responsible for public finance. We have yet to receive a response on how or when this happened, and why MoF/CBSL has been silent all this time. This is not a political issue. Regardless of where we stand, we must come together to address this, hold those responsible accountable, and rebuild the trust our country has worked so hard to restore. The people of Sri Lanka deserve nothing less.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa claims $2.5 Million (Rs. 750M+) of state funds has been siphoned off by a hacker during a foreign loan installment repayment. Premadasa slams the Finance Ministry & Central Bank for “gross negligence” and failing to verify transaction details, stating that the country’s financial security is now a national security threat.
Translation of the letter submitted by PC Maithree Gunarathana.
The Sri Lankan government had to pay a loan of $22.9 million by the end of September 2025, and the Treasury has paid a portion of it, namely $2.5 million, to a country as a debt settlement between December 2005 and January 31, 2026. It is learned that the money was not directed to the relevant debtor (country), but to a computer hacker (or a third party).
Now, a ‘Technical Investigation Committee’ has been appointed on or around 2026.03.24 to investigate this incident. Two Deputy Directors, two Directors and a Head of the Computer Division of the Treasury have already been suspended in connection with the incident.
As you know, until recently, the repayment of foreign loans, installments and interest was carried out by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. After the passage of the new Finance Act, this responsibility was transferred to the Department of Foreign Resources and the Public Debt Management Office. Accordingly, the documents regarding this payment have been prepared, and the payments have been made by those institutions.
A Deputy Treasury Secretary, an accountant and an officer from the computer department alone cannot make the payments of $ 2.5 million. The Deputy Treasury Secretary (DST) and the Treasury Secretary must also be involved in this.
The ultimate responsibility for public finances lies with Parliament. Currently, this investigation is being carried out under an Additional Treasury Secretary who has the ultimate responsibility for the payment of the debt. He will also conduct this investigation and further direct the operations of the relevant department.
Since the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, who is responsible for the Treasury, is also the Secretary to the Treasury, we believe that the investigation in this regard should be carried out by teams outside the Ministry of Finance/Treasury.
Therefore, I kindly request that Parliament, which is responsible for public finances, take appropriate steps to conduct a full investigation into this incident through an appropriate mechanism.
Scam not confirmed yet – Minister
Responding to a question raised during today’s Cabinet briefing, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that President’s Counsel Maithri Gunaratne had submitted a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, seeking a probe into the matter.
He stated that the Speaker would decide whether an investigation should be conducted into the issue by a special parliamentary committee.
The Minister added that the government has not yet received official confirmation of the alleged incident and that the claim is currently based solely on the letter submitted.
He further noted that the Ministry of Finance is expected to provide a detailed explanation in due course.
“The Ministry of Finance will explain in this regard. We have not received any information about this at this time. This letter is the only basis for this. The Ministry of Finance will explain in this regard very soon.”
“The Speaker decides after examining the facts on this. So, the Speaker is the one who should answer it. Whether or not the Parliament will investigate the matter. I still have only this letter in my hand. I do not have more details on this,” the minister said
( With the inputs from X posts and Ada Derana)
