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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Economy & business fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about economy & business. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

7,093 published reviews in this topic

Factcrescendo Sri LankaEconomy & business

ලංකාවට මුදල් එවන ලෙස විදේශගත ශ්‍රමිකයන්ගෙන් හඳුන්නෙත්ති ඉල්ලයි !!

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned a social-media post attributing to Sunil Handunnetti a request for overseas workers to send money to Sri Lanka because the country’s financial management had become more reliable. The review says the post circulated amid discussion of remittances from workers abroad and the JVP’s previous comments on that subject. It investigated whether Handunnetti had made the alleged statement, rather than assessing a general appeal for remittances: the article describes the claim as “රටේ මූල්‍ය කළමනාකරණය යම් තරමකට විශ්වාසනීය මට්ටකට පැමිණ ඇති නිසා දැන් ලංකාවට මුදල් එවන ලෙස අප විදේශගත ශ්‍රමිකයන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කරනවා” යනුවෙන් සුනිල් හඳුන්නෙත්ති මහතා පැවසූ බවට සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ සටහනක් සංසරණය වුණා. The publisher reports that it first searched mainstream media for a report of the statement and found none. It then contacted Handunnetti, who denied making any recent request to overseas workers to send money and said he had not made the quoted statement to any media outlet. The review therefore presents the attribution as fabricated, based on both its media search and the named politician’s denial: “එවැනි ප්‍රකාශයක් පළ වී නොතිබුණි. මේ හේතුවෙන් සුනිල් හඳුන්නෙත්ති මහතාගෙන් අප විමසීමක් සිදු කරනු ලැබුවා. ඔහු පවසා සිටියේ, තමන් විදේශ ශ්‍රමිකයන්ට මෙරටට මුදල් එවන ලෙසට කිසිදු අයුරකින් ප්‍රකාශයක් මෑතක දී සිදු නොකළ බවයි.” As a possible source of confusion, the article points to remarks by Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe at a media briefing on the bank’s sixth monetary-policy decision of 2022, held on the 18th. According to the review, Weerasinghe described an improvement in economic conditions after a period of relying on short-term credit for essential imports. That discussion was about economic conditions and monetary decisions; the excerpt does not say the governor made Handunnetti’s alleged appeal. The review suggests the remarks may have inspired the fabricated post, rather than establishing that as its proven origin.

FACTLYEconomy & business

₹96,000 should be paid as GST if the marriage budget is ₹5 lakh

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns whether a ₹5 lakh wedding budget itself triggers a ₹96,000 GST charge. The review says it found no law or rule imposing GST on marriages as such, including marriages costing ₹5 lakh or more. It distinguishes a tax on the wedding from GST charged on goods and services used to arrange it: the review states, “there is no GST on weddings in India even if the marriage expenses are ₹5 lakhs” and that GST applies “only on Goods or Services used for performing the wedding ceremony.”

FACTLYEconomy & business

List of PSUs (CPSEs) that are completely privatised and going to be sold by the Narendra Modi government

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post presented BPCL, SAIL, HPCL, Ordnance Equipment Factory and Coal India, among others, as already fully privatised under the Modi government. It also alleged plans to sell BSNL, the Airport Authority of India, ISRO and educational institutions. The review checked the post’s claims against information on government disinvestments, describing its use of the BSE PSU website for past and recent transactions and noting that disinvestment information was also available from DIPAM. The review found that, apart from Air India and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited, the government had not sold its entire stake in the public enterprises under discussion. It gave examples of remaining government ownership: 66.2% in BPCL, 65% in SAIL, 54.9% in HPCL and 72.33% in Coal India. It also noted that no disinvestment had taken place in BPCL or BALCO after Narendra Modi became prime minister, and that no further disinvestment in the listed enterprises had taken place in the 2022–23 fiscal year. The review distinguishes changes in management or private-sector participation from complete privatisation. It says the government announced on 16 June 2021 that management and operations of 41 ordnance factories, including the Ordnance Equipment Factory, would be transferred to seven wholly government-owned PSU companies. It also describes the 2021 opening of the space sector to private industry as distinct from divesting ISRO, and reports no announced divestment plans for IIT, IIM or ICSE institutions. The review concludes that the claims about complete privatisation and planned sales overstate what the cited disinvestment information showed.

dpaEconomy & business

Zelensky verkocht 17 miljoen hectare bouwgrond in Oekraïne aan verschillende (Amerikaanse) investeringsfondsen.

Publisher’s rating: Er is geen enkel bewijs dat zo'n grote hoeveelheid landbouwgrond werd verkocht. Bovendien is er een Oekraïense wet die de verkoop van landbouwgrond aan buitenlanders verhindert. De grootste landbouwgrondeigenaars in Oekraïne zijn Oekraïense bedrijven.

The claim under review is that President Volodymyr Zelensky sold 17 million hectares of Ukrainian agricultural land to foreign multinationals such as Monsanto, Cargill and DuPont. The review traces the claim to an Australian National Review article shared on social media. It says that article’s headline appears to support the allegation, but the article itself included a correction: the figure was 1.7 million hectares, not 17 million. The review also says the cited Oakland Institute material did not report that such a large area had been sold.