The Government is facing scrutiny following reports that $ 2.5 million (nearly Rs. 800 million) of Treasury funds was diverted during a foreign debt repayment, with the amount yet to reach the intended creditor country.

The funds were part of a bilateral payment to Australia amounting $ 22.9 million, with settlement due in September 2025.

The Treasury has appointed a Technical Investigation Committee to probe a suspected fraudulent payment involving $ 2.5 million linked to a bilateral transaction with Australia. The committee includes two Deputy Secretaries to the Treasury and will be co-chaired by A.N. Hapugala and S.S. Mudalige. The other members are National Planning Department Director General K.T.I. Premaratne, Legal Affairs Department Additional Director General A.K.D.D. Arandara, and Information Technology Management Department Assistant Director E.D. Shirantha.

The Committee has been tasked with probing the risk of fraudulent payment instructions received via email, which may have contributed to the disappearance of the funds remitted to Australia. It has been directed to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the incident and submit its report at the earliest.

#oureconomics

The People’s Bank achieved its highest-ever profit in 2025, while the Bank of Ceylon recorded its strongest financial performance in its 87-year history during the same year. The National Savings Bank also registered a record pre-tax profit of Rs. 59 billion in 2025, according to the Chairpersons of the respective banks.

These remarks were made during the presentation of the 2025 Annual Reports of the People’s Bank, Bank of Ceylon and National Savings Bank to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat.

Accordingly, Chairman of the People’s Bank Prof. Narada Fernando, Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon Mr Kavinda De Soysa and Chairman of the National Savings Bank Dr Harsha Cabraal respectively presented the relevant reports to the President on this occasion.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the People’s Bank, Prof. Narada Fernando, stated that the bank had recorded its highest-ever profit in 2025.

He further noted that the profit amounted to Rs. 64.4 billion before tax and Rs. 40 billion after tax.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon, Mr Kavinda De Soysa, stated that the bank had achieved the highest profit in its 87-year history in 2025. He further noted that this amounted to a pre-tax profit of Rs. 120.8 billion, while Rs. 77 billion had been paid to the Government as taxes.

The Chairman of the National Savings Bank, Dr Harsha Cabraal, stated that the bank had recorded its highest-ever pre-tax profit of Rs. 59 billion in 2025. He further noted that the National Savings Bank had also contributed Rs. 6 billion in dividends to the Treasury.

Indian officials called for the swift implementation of a proposed regional energy hub in Sri Lanka at the start of bilateral talks in Colombo.

The planned oil hub in the northeastern port of Trincomalee featured in a meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, India’s visiting Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters.

The project, which also involves the United Arab Emirates, has been under discussion since 2023, he added.

“There is no further time to lose in making progress on strategic projects such as these,” said Misri, who is visiting the Sri Lankan capital along with India’s Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan.

Sri Lanka, India and the UAE signed an agreement a year ago, following two years of talks, to set up a multi-product oil pipeline connecting the two South Asian neighbours and to establish the Trincomalee oil storage complex.