List of former presidents' foreign travel expenses revealed

Deputy Minister of Labour, Mr. Mahinda Jayasinghe, presented a list to Parliament detailing the money spent by former presidents on foreign tours.

He emphasized that former presidents had misused the country's foreign exchange. The Deputy Minister made these remarks during a debate on a regulation issued under the Foreign Exchange Act.

Mr. Mahinda Jayasinghe further stated:

According to the data he presented, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa spent 3.57 billion rupees (357 crores) on foreign tours between 2010 and 2015. Mr. Maithripala Sirisena spent 380 million rupees (38 crores) between 2015 and 2019. Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa spent 126 million rupees (12 crores and 60 lakhs) between 2020 and 2022. Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the National People's Power, spent 14.9 million rupees (1 crore and 49 lakhs) on 7 foreign tours, while current President Ranil Wickremesinghe spent 53 million rupees (5 crores and 30 lakhs) on 16 tours.

Pointing to this data, the Deputy Minister stated that foreign exchange had been used irregularly in the past. However, he further stated that the government is currently working to successfully invest the foreign exchange received by the country.