Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has accused the government of cherry-picking economic figures in a recent joint state publication to project an overly optimistic view of Sri Lanka's recovery.
The critique targets the Socio-Economic Data report compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics alongside the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, released ahead of the national budget.
Premadasa said that state institutions violated basic statistical integrity by omitting critical updated figures on public hardship while highlighting positive macroeconomic trends.
Strategic gap in poverty metrics
The Opposition Leader said the publication applies recent data from 2023 through 2025 across its initial pages to present external trade, real gross domestic product, and consumer price indices.
The same updated metrics appear in later sections covering state debt, government revenue, and tourism figures. However, the core middle section detailing household living conditions relies entirely on figures collected between 2016 and 2019.
This outdated timeframe covers vital metrics such as daily per capita food intake, household income, and energy usage, masking the current reality faced by ordinary citizens.
Flawed foundation for budget planning
Premadasa emphasised that no comprehensive household income and expenditure survey has taken place since the national bankruptcy, leaving official poverty estimates fundamentally flawed.
He rejected state calculations suggesting an individual can live on Rs. 17,315 per month as an outright falsehood.
Presenting ancient data to establish conclusions on contemporary living standards marginalizes vulnerable groups and misleads the public.
The upcoming 2026 budget risks relying on deeply skewed figures that obscure the true extent of inequality across the island.
The deliberate suppression of current poverty data in official state reporting undermines the credibility of Sri Lanka's economic planning.
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