Sri Lankan opposition raps gov't over big loss in Greek bonds

2012-10-12 
COLOMBO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's opposition is blaming the government for the loss of 15.5 million U.S. dollars in Greek bonds and are calling for a full investigation into the oversight, an official said here on Friday.

Sri Lanka's main opposition, the United National Party (UNP) MP Dr. Harsha de Silva who is also an economist by profession has severely criticized the Central Bank for investing in what he termed as "junk bonds" of Greece in the aftermath of the Euro crisis.

"The monetary board of the Central Bank was not consulted and this investment was made after all rating agencies gave the lowest possible evaluation for Greek bonds. However the government has failed to clarify why this decision was taken when such a massive economic meltdown was happening," he told reporters.

Sri Lanka has reputedly invested over 30 million euros in Greek junk bonds on April 5, 2011 and subsequently lost an estimated 15. 5 million U.S. dollars, according to Dr. Harsha de Silva.

He went on to say that the high powered officials were acting with impunity and that the UNP was not allowed to voice their concerns within the parliament.

"When this issue was to be taken up before parliament on Tuesday we were not allowed to question the government. Senior Ministers responsible have misled parliament by not divulging all the information related to the Greek bonds," he added.

The UNP has long criticized the Sri Lankan government for not following good governance practices in relation to investments.

"It's the same group of people that are mismanaging public funds," he said referring to questionable stock market practices that have cropped up in the recent past with regard to Central Bank investments.

The Opposition has vowed to continue their demand for transparency in the parliament.