Lobby payments: How the Central Bank goldmine was plundered
American influence peddler registers his deals only after exposures in the Sunday Times and Foreign Policy Magazine
By Namini Wijedasa-Sunday, September 27, 2015
For three consecutive years, the Auditor General’s Department queried the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) about the millions paid in fees to foreign lobbyists, consultants and public relations agencies.
Imaad Zuberi
The reports for 2013 and 2014 will be published within weeks, when they are tabled in Parliament. The Auditor General first raised concern in 2012 after noticing that the CBSL had advanced money to these firms when it should have been routed through other channels. But this observation was omitted in that year’s final report.
The Central Bank’s income statement for 2014 places accumulated costs for advertising, consultancy, communication, advisory and professional fees at Rs. 2,050,619,000 or more than Rs. 2 billion.
