Sri Lanka Finance Ministry confirms USD 2.5 million loss due to hacking

Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Harshana Suriyapperuma’s statement came a day after the opposition claimed that USD 2.5 million of treasury funds had landed in a hacker’s account and not in the correct creditor.

The hacking at the Finance Ministry had been done via email and the ministry came to be aware of hacking attempts early this year, Suriyapperuma told reporters here.

“In January 2026, we came to know that cyber criminals were trying to enter the External Resources Department’s system. When such information was reported, we coordinated with the relevant foreign countries and ensured that no harm was caused to the country that was to receive the payment. That issue was resolved,” he said.

A high powered committee had been appointed to investigate the incident of hacking and the consequent loss of USD 2.5 million.

In September 2025, Sri Lanka was due to pay USD 22.9 million dollars to a creditor. USD 2.5 million, part of that payment, was paid between December 2025 and January 31, 2026.

A group of opposition lawyers wrote to the Speaker of Parliament that the part payment had landed in a hacker’s account and not in the correct creditor’s account.

The group called on the speaker to initiate an inquiry as public finances are parliament’s responsibility. The issue had been raised at the proceedings of the parliament’s Committee on Public Accounts .

In a related development, the Australian High Commission in Colombo, in a statement, said both the High Commission and the Finance Ministry were aware of irregularities in payments owed to the Australian government.

“Sri Lankan authorities are investigating the matter and are coordinating with Australian officials who are assisting the investigation,” it added.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.