Hulangamuwa says 2026 Budget restores private sector's role as "engine of growth"

ADVISER to the President on Economic Affairs and Finance Duminda Hulangamuwa yesterday said that the key theme of the 2026 Budget is mobilising private capital and restoring the private sector's role as the "engine of growth.

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“Almost every major reference in the Budget from tax incentives to institutional reforms is directed toward encouraging private sector participation,” he said at the Daily FT-Colombo University Alumni Association post-Budget Forum.

Hulangamuwa said the country’s path to achieving 7% growth will depend not merely on fiscal policy, but on rebuilding Sri Lanka’s credibility through consistent policies, rule of law and the active participation of the private sector in driving investment and development.

He explained that the 2026 Budget was crafted not only to stabilise the economy, but to lay the groundwork for sustained, broad-based growth powered by private enterprise, structural reforms and good governance.

He said that while Sri Lanka is likely to achieve 3–4% GDP growth in the short term, sustaining a higher trajectory of 6–7% is critical for meaningful development that benefits the wider population. “If we are to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach all citizens, we must grow by 7%. Growth cannot come from fiscal tools alone, it requires consistency, credibility and trust in governance,” he added.

Hulangamuwa said one of the main lessons from the experiences of Asian peers such as Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam was that policy consistency and credibility is not just reforms, it fuels investor confidence and economic transformation.